Robert Devlin, a retired judge, prosecutor and public defender, was appointed Monday to the powerful new position of inspector general, an office created to investigate and prosecute all fatal police use of force cases as the most visible element in a far-reaching package new of law enforcement reforms.
Devlin, 71, was the favorite among four finalists for the position created by pressure from police reformers who have argued for years that the current system for investigating officer-involved-shootings is weighted in favor of police.
The $180,000 a year office was created two years ago, but the appointment was delayed because of legal arguments about the independence of the office from prosecutors in the state Division of Criminal Justice.
Devlin was viewed as the top choice by many who have followed the process and believe his age and experience make him capable of resisting what is expected to be intense pressure from both shooting victims and law enforcement as the new office organizes itself and begins work.
The state Criminal Justice Commission appointed Devlin to the position of deputy chief state’s attorney, inspector general by a 5-0 vote following a day-long series of public interviews of the finalists in Hartford.
Asked for his advice to an inspector general, Devlin said: “Follow the evidence. Be brave. “
“There are people in our society who think the police can do no wrong,” he said. “And there are people in our society who think the police can do no right. It’s in that space in between that the inspector general has to work, and let the results speak for themselves,” he said. “I would give a fair shake to everyone, to the police and the victims.”
“I’m not looking at this as a stepping stone to something else,” he said. “Its an opportunity to really do some good public service. I think the fact that it is a clean sheet of paper is also attractive to me.”
Early in his legal career, decades ago, Devlin was a state public defender and state prosecutor before moving to the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on and supervised complex criminal investigations. He was next appointed to the Superior and Appellate Courts, which he left after reaching mandatory retirement. He was chief administrative judge for the Superior Court and has held positions on a variety of judicial commissions.
The legislature empowered the inspector general to “investigate all instances of deadly force and where physical force by a peace officer results in death. In addition, it will be the duty of the office to prosecute any case where the finding is not justifiable and make further recommendations concerning the peace officer in question to the Police Officers Standards and Training Council.”
The nine-member office is expected to cost about $1.5 million a year in salary and benefits, with another $50,000 to $100,000 a year for office space separate from other prosecutors and law enforcement. The eight staff in addition to the inspector general will include a senior assistant prosecutor, five inspectors, a forensic analyst and a paralegal. The office is expected to run 25 full investigations a year.
The other finalists for the position interviewed Monday were former federal prosecutor and public interest lawyer Liam Brennan, federal public defender Moira Buckley and defense attorney A. Ryan McGuigan.
All the candidates were questioned closely on subjects such as implicit bias, the perception that minority communities are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system and whether a new inspector general needs to start a public education effort to build confidence in law enforcement agencies.
Devlin called implicit bias a societal fact of life.
“We look at the world through our own lenses,” he said.
Ask how to mitigate the problem, he said, “You talk about it.”
The inspector general position is at the top of a package of reforms created by state legislators who, at the height of the defund the police movement, were trying to exert greater control over how police officers do their jobs. Other reforms included more stringent police certification requirements and the creation of a legal pathway in the state courts for the filing of civil rights suits against police officers.
At present, fatal confrontations involving police officers are investigated by State’s Attorney’s from different districts.
Devlin must build an office from the ground up – finding private office space, hiring lawyers, investigators and clerical staff – that will take over all police-involved cases.
The office will be quasi-independent. It is designed to be part of the Division of Criminal Justice for administrative purposes, but operationally independent. Social justice advocates pressed the Legislature to make the position a legislative appointment, arguing that would make the office would be independent of the state criminal justice system. But language in the state Constitution gives the appointment to the Criminal Justice Commission, an executive agency which hires and supervises state prosecutors.
In a compromise, the commission agreed to interview candidates with criminal justice backgrounds, but from outside the state prosecutorial system. The quasi-independent office is supposed to be part of, but operate separately from, the prosecutors in the state Division of Criminal Justice.
Devlin called independence “necessary” to separate the inspector general away from a system viewed by criminal justice detractors as part of the problem. He said he believes the new office should undertake a confidence building mission in communities were there is a belief in historic mistreatment by law enforcement.
“I think that office has to reach out to the community,” he said.
He intends also to confer with victims and families of police use of force.
“I think the IG should meet with them very early in the process and have an open door to keep them apprised,” he said in answer to commission questions.
As inspector general, Devlin will have powers not available to others in state law enforcement, specifically the authority to issue subpoenas compelling witnesses to provide statements or produce records. Investigative subpoenas are used routinely by law enforcement elsewhere and by federal prosecutors in Connecticut, but for decades, the legislature has denied it to state prosecutors for subpoena power.
