New Britain herald., 1923-02-07
MOffITT WILL HAVE NO 1923 VACATION
Policeman Who Failed to Ring
 Calls Is Given Hearing

on charges alleging neglect Of duty,
 He has been under suspension since
 January sa, having been removed from duty by Chief William [, Hart 1 for failure 10 ring in his calls at proper times during the night of Jans
 nary s7, lie pleaded guilty 10 the
 charge,
 After hearing that lasted ever an
 hour, the board imposed penalty Of
 nine days during which Mafiitt has
 hoen off duty, without nay. and fined
 him l Q days vacation, In view or the
 fact that Mefiitt has been lined four
 days vacation previously on account
 of the disagreement growing out Of
 the alleged failure Of several patrol-
 men to report for physical training at
 the r, Nj, c, A., he will have no vaea.
 ton during the coming year.
 l Dunn Heads Charges
 Al the outset Of last nights meet
 ing. Chairman David l.. Dunn read the charges preferred by Chief Hart. which showed that on the night Of Saturday. January 27. Policeman Moi
 tltt had faile dto put in his rings on
 Boxes 10 and 3a. between i0:30 ?. m. and 3:S5 n. m. on the morning of Jan- uary 2s.
 l A supplementary report of the af- fair was received from Sergeant John J, King, who was on desk duty that night. Policeman Moffitt had said that he put in his ring at 2:i5 o'clock which caused dispute, and in answer 10 a command by the sergeant to fill1 out Il report the policeman told the | sergeant that he would do so only on l the orders Of the chief. It was the con- l tention of the policeman that he had put in a ring at e:15 q. m. on January l 2s. He made no denial to the sergeant that he had missed two previous rings earlier in the night.
 Sergeant Sent on Search
 The report of Sergeant King made to Chief Hart was to the effect that when the regular calls of Policeman Moffitt did not register on the tape at | the police station, he communicated with Sergeant George c. Ellinger, who was sent out to look for the policeman. In reporting 10 Sergeant King, as to his findings, Sergeant Ellinger said he found Policeman Moffitt on the street. | and that he was in condition for work.
 Fell Asleep in School The accused policeman, given an op- portunity to state his side of the case, said that on Saturday night, January 27, he went into the Nathan Hale school on Fremont street, and while in the building he fell asleep. When he awoke he realized that he had missed two rings.
 These rings were supposed to be sent in at Il and 1 o'clock. He then went to his next box, and, in his opin- ion he sent in the call scheduled at 2:15 a. m. Questioned by members of the board as to whether or not he was sure that he put in the ring, the4 policeman said that he may have1 overlooked it, realizing that he would have to face the board for failure to put in the previous rings. The police man said that he did put in his regu- lar rings for the remainder of the night, as the tape showed.
 In answer to a question of Commis- ( sioner William F. Lange, Moffitt said it was cold on the night in question: ( Commissioner Thomas F. Jackson [ questioned him briefly. Mofitt said ( that he had been suffering from cold ( for several days before the occurrence, and that his sleep was broken up somewhat during the day, owing to q the illness of a man living in the same T house with him. C Suggests Alarm Clocks in Schools
 Don't you think they ought to have | alarm clocks put in the schools?" a asked Commissioner Jackson. T guess | so," said Moffitt. Commissioner Lange 0 asked Moffitt if the school building a are kept warm. The policeman said V that as rule they are. He replied to a question of Commissioner Jackson, ( that he had not been off his beat at a any time on the night of January 27.
 Commissioner Lange said that in S view of the fact that the policeman W had pleaded guilty to the charge Il brought against him, there was no e need of embarrassing him with further c Continuing, the commis- W sioner said that there was nothing in the reports of the sereeants that C would tend to show that the accused had been not fit for duty. At this juncture the sergeants were ,sked if they had any other statements
  n the reports Chief Hart reported " that neither Sergeant King or Ser f' seant Ellinger, had any other phase Ill .o discuss. '"
 Commissioners Favor Leniency UT Commissioner Edwin A. Parker en spoke of the seriousness of a police oo nan missing his rings. Chairman pr Dunn said that he had looked into the co natter and he realized that at mid- light when the shift changes there CT vas a possibility of some ring being overlooked, although this did not pe inter into the case in question: Com at missioner Jackson said that Moffitt is sI ln excellent policeman, despite the LII act that his record in living up to or 'ules of the department was not good. ar The commissioner said that the po- = iceman had come before the board n a case that had extenuating cir and for that reason he felt hat there should be leniency shown linn. He then suggested that the ac- used policeman be penalized 20 days, o be applied to that which he has Llready paid through suspension.
 Commissioner Parker also showed spirit of 1eniency. Chairman Dunn aid that the present board has had ,efore it case of policeman who lad committed the same offense with which Moffitt was charged and the oard gave him lecture before tell 1g him to go out and do better.
 Family Is TOnciflorpd