Stonington — Three months after some residents unsuccessfully called for Robert O'Shaughnessy's resignation after he reposted controversial comments on his Facebook page involving race, immigration and gender identity, the Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday elected him as its new chairman.

Meanwhile, the board formally accepted the results of an independent investigation into how police handed the allegedly racially biased assault of a Black female employee at the Quality Inn in Mystic on June 26 and forwarded it to Chief J. Darren Stewart to review and possibly make improvements to the department's policies and procedures. The investigation criticized police for their initial handling of the incident and failure to apprehend the two suspects but found “no evidence to suggest any malicious intent on the part of police in not locating the suspects on the day of the assault.”

The board voted 3-1 to appoint O'Shaughnessy, the former commander of the Troop E state police barracks in Montville, despite the opposition of new board member Lisa Tepper Bates. Board member Robert Tabor made the motion to appoint O'Shaughnessy, who will serve as chairman for the next year. Board members Robert Elmer III and William Turner also voted to appoint O'Shaughnessy.

While she stressed she believes in free speech and the ability of people to learn and change, Tepper Bates said that not once but on multiple occasions, O'Shaughnessy expressed views that contradict the values of the community. She said the town owes it to residents that the leaders of important boards reflect those values.

The three members supporting O'Shaughnessy did not comment on why he should serve as chairman.   

Among O’Shaughnessy's posts were these:

"With all the properties being sold around Mystic I hope we will not have to put up one of these signs.” He then reposted this item:

“You came here from there because you did not like it there, and now you want to change here to be like there. We are not racist, phobic or anti whatever-you-are, we simply like here the way it is and most of us actually came here because it is not like there, wherever there was. You are welcome here, but please stop trying to make here like there. If you want here to be like there you should not have left there to come here, and you are invited to leave here and go back there at your earliest convenience.”

O’Shaughnessy, also reposted a long list of grievances under the heading “We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!”

Among them were the following:

“If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him."

“People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves."

“Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process but any illiterate gang bangers who jump the southern border fence are welcome."

In July, he reposted: “I never cared if you were ‘gay’ or whatever acronym you chose to call yourself until you started shoving it down my throat. I never cared what color you were, if you were a good human, until you started blaming me for your problems. I’ve never cared if your beliefs are different than mine. Until you said my beliefs are wrong.... Now I care. I’ve given all the tolerance I have to give. This is no longer my problem. It’s your problem. You can still fix it. It’s not too late. But it will be. Soon. I’m a very patient person at times. But I’m about out of patience. There are literally Millions of people just like me. We have had enough.”

While First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough initially criticized O’Shaughnessy's commentary as “contrary to the values of our community,” she and her fellow selectwomen later urged residents to get to know him instead of judging him on his social media posts.

In September, O’Shaughnessy said he had met with Jean Jordan, president of the New London chapter of the NAACP, and others and through those discussions, “I have come to better understand my error in judgment by sharing these posts, particularly as a leader in our community."

He said he supports social justice for all and looks forward to working with fellow police commissioners, the Board of Selectmen and others to continue conversations “to engage and educate us on any important topics facing our community including those of unconscious bias.”

“I hope we can look for ways to build up rather than tear down, I hope we can restore civil discourse and not continue to assume bad intent when we disagree,” he said in his statement. “Our country is founded on the ideals that each of us can express our thoughts and feelings freely and openly in order that we might work together to find common solutions to difficult issues, we need to restore an open and honest dialogue in order to serve our whole community.”

Quality Inn investigation aftermath

During his statement Thursday night about the Quality Inn investigation, O'Shaughnessy pointed out the probe found there was no violation of policy, procedure or law and that there was no racial bias or malicious intent on behalf of the involved officers. He said the police department is committed to its mission of supporting every member of the community and honoring its diversity. O'Shaughnessy did not mention the errors that investigator Frank Rudewicz pointed out that officers made. There was also no comment from the board on whether the involved officers will be disciplined.

Police have been criticized because Philip Sarner and Emily Orbay, who was five months pregnant, were able to leave Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where they were treated after the 11 a.m. incident, return to the hotel and flee to New York in their car without being apprehended. Police have said that because the hospital would not let them come inside to take Sarner and Orbay into custody due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they came up with an unsuccessful plan to apprehend the couple when they returned to the hotel.

Rudewicz wrote that the police department’s attempt to lure Sarner back to the hotel and arrest him for allegedly beating Crystal Caldwell failed “because Sarner tricked SPD.” He said additional measures could have been taken to take Sarner into custody. Rudewicz also said a public statement by police that Lawrence + Memorial Hospital prohibited them from entering the hospital to arrest Sarner due to COVID-19 precautions was false. Sarner and Orbay were apprehended in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 13 and their assault and intimidation based on bigotry or bias cases are pending.

During Thursday night's board meeting, resident Sandra Laub told commissioners that the police officers' errors in judgment "were made in the context of systemic racism." She said the police department's decision to allow Sarner and Orbay to be taken to the hospital is a reminder of "the systemic racism in our close to 90% white community." 

"If the roles were reversed, would the attackers be allowed to escape?" she asked about a scenario in which a Black couple attacked a white woman. Police have said they are required to first get medical treatment for anyone who says they are injured, as Sarner and Orbay did.

Laub recommended police take several actions, such as scheduling anti-racism training for officers on a regular basis, having officers involved in the incident make a personal apology to Caldwell and issuing a news release that accurately reflects what happened at the hospital.

Stewart, O'Shaughnessy and Tepper Bates have signed up to participate in three hours of implicit bias training. Stewart said that every three years, officers must undergo one to two hours of bias training as part of their recertification process.

j.wojtas@theday.com