In our June 25 editorial congratulating Brian Wright’s elevation from captain to chief of the New London police, we presented it as an opportunity for a fresh start, a chance “to look for more avenues of cooperation and tone down the confrontation.”

With the surfacing of more information, the enormity of the challenge Chief Wright faces has become clearer.

This week the community learned more about the circumstances surrounding the sudden announcement in late May that former Chief Peter Reichard was retiring after four years in the position, nine with the department.

Mayor Michael Passero had learned of a conversation with Reichard that was clandestinely recorded by a subordinate within the department. It is not flattering.

Reichard complains that while an officer in New Haven he was passed over for promotions when minority candidates got the jobs. He contends Passero, a former city firefighter, “doesn’t give a flying (expletive) about the police.”

Mostly, he sounds like a defeated man no longer up to the job.

“I’m sick of New London,” he says, according to the transcript. “The politics in this (expletive) little city are worse than anywhere I’ve seen.”

“I’m in a position I don’t know how to motivate people anymore. I don’t know how. There are days I’m not motivated to come to work.”

Confronted in a May 26 meeting with the comments, Reichard offered to retire.

Wright inherits leadership of a department with significant dysfunction. That Reichard had concluded he could no longer motivate his officers is a bad sign. That an officer was secretly recording his chief — and who knows who else — doesn’t exactly suggest an environment of trust and fellowship.

Still outstanding is a civil rights lawsuit filed by Sgt. Cornelius Rodgers, who is Black. He claims he was targeted for disproportionate and unfair punishment and faced retaliation when he complained.

More shoes could drop, though not directly related to Reichard. There are reports — which Passero said he has heard about and that he takes seriously — that video recordings exist of officers making highly inappropriate comments about a fellow officer. But the reported recordings have not surfaced, only talk of them, so the mayor said he has nothing to act on.

That’s a lot to unpack for Wright, the first Black chief to head the department. But Wright knew full well the challenges when he accepted the position, meaning he has ideas on how to address them. There is reason to be optimistic about this fresh start, about Wright’s ability to rebuild morale, even under these circumstances.

Then there is the matter of how Passero handled the Reichard issue. He provided no background about the Reichard retirement when it was announced. When asked about it, he chose to be evasive. The mayor's explanation is that he did not want to publicly upbraid the chief by revealing the details of the recording as the reason he had to step down.

This was fundamentally a personnel issue and Passero said he handled it as such. Reichard offered to retire, given the recorded comments. If the chief had refused to step aside, or if the recording had revealed misconduct in Reichard’s duties as chief, that would have been a different matter, the mayor said.

“Those comments did not reflect the way he had performed as police chief,” Passero explained. “I couldn’t disregard the service he gave this city. It was a moment of human weakness for the guy. It suggests a character failing. But my intention was not to cover up anything. When he agreed to go, I considered the matter done.”

But here is the rub; secrets seldom remain secrets, particularly in New London, and the mayor should have factored that into his calculation from the start. Knowledge of the recording was widely being discussed. The mayor could have − and should have − been more forthcoming about the circumstances of Reichard’s sudden retirement announcement, while keeping the chief's comments in perspective, which is what he is doing now anyway.

Yet that is the smaller issue. The bigger issue is the internal repair of the police department and, as Wright has vowed, “fostering community connections that build trust.”

That must be the primary focus.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.