Bridgeport police chief arrested, accused of rigging 2018 exam

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    BRIDGEPORT, CT (WFSB) — Bridgeport’s police chief and the city’s acting personnel director were arrested on Thursday.

According to the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez and David Dunn are accused of defrauding the city “by rigging the 2018 police chief examination.”

Audrey Strauss, acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the exam, which is mandated by the city’s charter, was allegedly rigged to ensure Perez would be selected for the position of police chief.

Perez and Dunn were also charged with making false statements to federal agents during the course of the investigation.

They both appeared in court on Thursday afternoon.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said “As alleged, Chief Perez and Personnel Director Dunn schemed to rig the purportedly impartial and objective search for a permanent police chief to ensure the position was awarded to Perez, and then repeatedly lied to federal agents in order to conceal their conduct. Bridgeport’s citizens and police officers deserve leaders with integrity who are committed to enforcing, not breaking, the law, and we thank the FBI for their partnership in investigating and uncovering the scheme alleged.

The charges stem from a complaint during the search for a new police chief in 2018.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s office said Perez was serving as the acting chief at the time, and allegedly conspired with Dunn to “deceive the city by secretly rigging the supposedly independent search process for a new BPD chief to ensure that Perez was ranked as one of the top three candidates and could therefore be awarded a five-year contract to serve as the BPD chief.”

In February of 2018, the search for a new police chief commenced.

Dunn, in his role as the personnel director, oversaw the examination process and retained an outside consultant to develop and carry out the exam.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s office said Perez and Dunn manipulated the process in multiple ways, including:

Dunn allegedly stole confidential examination questions and related information developed by the consultant, and provided those materials to Perez, including by email
Dunn had the consultant tailor the examination scoring criteria to favor Perez
Perez allegedly enlisted two Bridgeport police officers to secretly draft and write Perez’s written exam
Dunn allegedly attempted to influence a panelist, tasked with ranking the candidates in the last stage of the exam, to ensure that Perez was scored as one of the top three candidates.
“As a result of the scheme, the city was deceived into ranking Perez among the top three candidates, which rendered him eligible for the permanent police chief position,” the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s office said.

The mayor then offered the position to Perez, and he was appointed and entered into a five-year contract.

Perez and Dunn are both charged with wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Perez is also charged with two counts of false statements to federal investigators, and Dunn is charged with one count of the same.

Later in the day on Thursday, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said Rebeca Garcia will lead the department as acting police chief.

“There is a grappling for some answers to what has happened, disappointment, uncertainty, but I can tell you this, the members of this administration remain committed to you,” Ganim said Thursday.

Family and friends of Jayson Negron, a man killed by a Bridgeport officer during a stolen car chase, set up tents at the front of the station, claiming today’s arrest validates their claims of corruption at the department.

“It’s almost comforting because it’s confirmation that everything we’ve been shouting, everything we’ve been fighting for has been brought to light,” MiKaela Adams, a family friend said Thursday.

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