New Britain herald., 1929-12-31
POLITICIANS BLOCK
 BOARDS ACTION 0N POLICE LIEUTENANT
Appointment Held Up While MCCue and O'MaTa Row
 Is Aired
BANNAN COMES OUT FLAT
 FOR DEFECTIVE SERGEANT


 Party Said to Be Chief Objection
 to His Promotion By Democratic
 Lcadcrs-O'Mara and Flynn Have
 Strong Bacl>ing-Licut Bamforth
 Placed On Retired List.
 lntaglcments of politics and sit uauOn in the detective bureau re- sultlnS from friction between De tective Sergeant W. P McCue and Sergeant r. J. U'Mara have entered into the contest for promotion to the licutcnancy left vacant by the re- tiremCnt of Lieutenant Samuel Bam- forth. it developed at Q special meet ing of the board of police commis- sionerS last night, with the result that the only business transacted was the granting of Lieutenant Bam- forth's request for retirement on pension. effective January 19. 1880. Lieutenant BamtOrth will actually round out his active service in the department today, the commissioners having voted to grant him a leave of absence until the 18th, so that he might complete exactly 35 years service.
 Board in Long Huddlc
 For about two hours the commits sioncrs sat behind closed doors in the office of Chief Hart. and from unofficial reports which Cmauated it is understood that there is opposition 10 advancing Sergeant McCue 10 the lioutenancy. Chairman M. W. Ban nan in an interview today. made il plain that Sergeant McCuc is his choice and he said he was prepared to stack his candidate against the field and have them judged on their merits. If this is done. he said, he felt certain that Sergeant McCuc would be the choice because he has the ability to fill the position. more so than the other sergeants who are candidates. At the same time, he said. he was pleased to be able to say that all the material was good.
 Politicians Busy
 During the past two or three days, politicians have been at work, it be- came known at last nights meeting, and one of the arguments being ad- vanCed against promoting Sergeant McCuc is his utilization with the re- publican party. The democratic party being in control of the government in that the mayor is a democrat, prominent party men have urged the commissioners to advance a demo- cratic sergeant Sergeant O'Mara and Sergeant NJ. J. Flynn are prominent ly mentioned from this viewpoint, and it was reported today that both have strong backing. with the possl- bility that Sergeant Flynn's connec- tions are more influential.
 Sergeant On Carpet
 There was a furry of excitement about police headquarters last night when Sergeants McCuc and O'Mra1 came face to face before the com- mssioners. and it quickly became known that a heated argument in which they engaged several weeks ago was being prcbed. Sergean1 McCue was called in first and when he was asked for his side of the affair he is reported 10 have re- quested that Sergeant O'Mara be invited in before he talked. The commissioners then sent for Scr eoant O'Mara and t is understood that the circumstances surrounding the dispute were thoroughly aired. Although all concerned were dis inclined to discuss it today, it was reliably reported that Sergeant McCuc ordered Sergeant O'Mara to
 Continued on Page Two)