Fairfield PD Captain Resigns After Internal Affairs Probe: Report

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield police captain recently resigned after multiple investigations into his handling of a harassment complaint revealed he repeatedly violated department policies, according to information provided by the agency.

Capt. Christopher Tursi resigned from the department May 12 after he was placed on paid administrative leave in March, according to Chief Robert Kalamaras. Documentation provided by the department in response to requests from Fairfield Patch details how Tursi discouraged an employee from filing a complaint, encouraged her to delete texts from her harasser, failed to properly document the complaint and lied over the course of multiple investigations.

“This incident occurred prior to my tenure as Chief,” Kalamaras said in a prepared statement. “Upon being sworn in, I immediately ordered an Internal Affairs investigation into the matter.”

Tursi was one of three candidates considered in January to replace outgoing Chief Christopher Lyddy, before the job eventually went to Kalamaras.

Tursi’s attorney, Norm Pattis, did not respond to a request for comment.

The harassment complaint that Tursi was found to have mishandled was made in May 2019, when a woman who worked in the department told Tursi that a colleague had been giving her unwanted attention for months — texting her, leaving gifts in her office and vehicle, and visiting her office, according to an investigative summary provided by the department.

Tursi told the woman’s harasser, who retired several months later, to stop any contact with the woman that was not work-related, the summary said.

In July 2020, the woman asked to see the documentation of her complaint, only to find there was no record of it in her harasser’s personnel file, nor were there any warnings issued in writing to the man, according to the summary. Following her discovery, then-Chief Lyddy drafted a no-trespass order against her harasser, the summary said.

The following month, the woman contacted Fairfield’s human resources director to report the situation, according to the summary. The town hired a private attorney to conduct an inquiry, and, after the lawyer’s report was released in February 2021, Kalamaras ordered an internal affairs investigation into Tursi’s alleged policy violations.

The probes revealed that when the woman came forward, Tursi responded by telling her that her harasser was “a well-liked guy around the police department” and that if other employees learned of her situation, they would “wonder what [her] part was in all of it,” according to the summary.

The woman felt Tursi’s comments were accusatory and that he meant to discourage her from making a complaint, although Tursi told internal affairs investigators that his statement was intended to maintain confidentiality, the summary said.

Tursi also read texts the woman received from her harasser, told her to delete them and later denied doing so, investigators found.

“Captain Tursi’s direction to destroy the very evidence of the claimed harassment the female employee was complaining of is, to say the very least, problematic,” the summary said.

Tursi, a 22-year veteran of the department, will remain on administrative leave until July 2, according to Kalamaras. Prior to the recent investigations, his disciplinary record was limited to minor infractions early in his career, Kalamaras said.

“Our department is committed to upholding the highest standards of policing, which includes taking all allegations of misconduct seriously, and we will continue to maintain the utmost professionalism and accountability within our ranks,” the chief said in his statement.

Fairfield’s police commission unanimously accepted Tursi’s resignation. Chair James Millington declined further comment.

Tursi remains a certified law enforcement professional, according to Kalamaras, who said the Police Officer Standards and Training Council will be notified of the investigatory findings to determine the future standing of Tursi’s certification.