Norita slams Fitial, hints of suit

Claudio K. Norita slammed Gov. Benigno R. Fitial for terminating him as chief of the Department of Public Safety, saying the reasons given were “unsubstantiated, ridiculous, frivolous, unfounded, and nonsense.”

Claiming insult, Norita hinted that he may bring a defamation of character lawsuit against the governor. He also cited the Fitial’s senior policy adviser, Ray Mafnas, as the one who “fanatically” pushed for his ouster.

Press secretary Charles Reyes Jr. said the governor understands that Norita is not happy with the decision.

“We understand and respect his position. But the governor made a decision that’s well within his rights and we’re prepared to move on,” Reyes said.

“Clyde is mature enough. He is intelligent. But he will soon get over this issue and move on and we only wish him the best of luck,” he said.

New Commissioner

Fitial officially appointed former DPS commissioner Santiago F. Tudela as the new department chief effective on Friday. He will serve in an acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate.

“I have great confidence in Mr. Tudela. He knows DPS and he is respected by the DPS staff,” said Fitial in a statement issued yesterday.

In the termination letter issued Thursday, Fitial told the former commissioner that, although he is pleased with Norita’s efforts, he is terribly concerned at the substantial revenue losses suffered under Norita’s administration at DPS.

“Traffic revenue has ranged +/- $300,000 per year for the Commonwealth. This results from an average of 20-35 new misdemeanor cases per week plus payable offenses,” the governor said.

In the last two years, Fitial said, a high of 72 new cases were heard on arraignment day in court.

“Subsequent to your arrival, there have been multiple weeks of –0- cases and a typical week is now 3-7 new cases,” the governor said.

In addition to revenue losses, the chief executive expressed concern regarding investigative work that, according to Fitial, Norita rejected based on his personal determination of what investigation material is needed to prosecute a case.

“Prosecuting attorneys, not the commissioner, are the ones trained, licensed and responsible to present Commonwealth cases before the Superior Court,” the governor said.

Fitial also stated that Norita did not coordinate with agencies historically involved in recruitment and training of new police cadets.

He said the commissioner’s office has overseen a candidate selection process that now includes candidates who do not meet the criteria for law enforcement officers, including convicted felons and fugitives.

Fitial said he is exercising his constitutional authority to conclude Norita’s service as commissioner of DPS immediately.

“I wish you well in all of your future endeavors, and I thank you for volunteering to serve the administration when you were called upon to serve,” said the governor in his letter.

Surprise

In his response letter to Fitial on Friday, Norita said he is surprised at the reasons listed for removing him, describing them as “unsubstantiated and ridiculous.”

“I was prepared to accept your removal letter, citing just your sole authority to remove me. However, I am insulted that you would accuse me of such unfounded allegations,” Norita told the governor.

On the revenue losses issue, Norita said anybody in law enforcement knows that traffic enforcement is not about collecting revenue through citation.

“It has never been the practice for DPS to put a quota on traffic citation and revenue generation. The sole purpose of traffic enforcement is to educate the [public] and prevent injury and death,” he pointed out.

Norita, a former police officer, explained that when citation numbers go down, there are a lot of reasons such as the motoring public is complying with traffic laws or there are fewer vehicles on highways.

“Less vehicles on the highway is justified because of the high cost of fuel and the exodus of people from the CNMI,” he stressed.

DPS, Norita emphasized, is not in the business of citing people for the sole reason of generating revenue.

On the alleged manipulation of investigative work (which Norita said is a serious accusation), he demanded that the Attorney General identify a specific case.

“By not citing the specific case is just another attempt to persecute my name in the public media. I find this as grounds to bring about a civil suit for defamation of character,” he said.

Press secretary Reyes pointed out, though, that the governor did not publicly publish the reasons for removing Norita. “In order to have a defamation case you have to publish it,” he said.

As for hiring criminals, Norita reminded Fitial that DPS got the list of candidates to interview from the Office of Personnel Management.

“This one was not a shot from the hip but way below the hip. Whoever fed you this crap didn’t do his homework,” he told the governor.

Norita explained that all applicants are processed at OPM, then OPM prepares a certification list that it delivers to DPS.

At DPS, he said, all candidates are advised to take the English Placement Test and, upon passing the test, are made to take the physical agility test.

“When they pass the physical agility test they are interviewed by an interview committee. The interview committee then grades the candidate and then we run their names through our criminal records check,” Norita said.

The criminal records check, he added, is separate from the court clearance that the applicants initially submit to OPM.

DPS is prevented by federal and CNMI laws from hiring individuals with felony convictions for police officer positions. Federal law prohibits felons from carrying firearms and cannot be police officers because of this restriction.

Norita suggested to Fitial to closely look at an Attorney General investigator “who has been hired and has a conviction for cultivating marijuana.”

“I personally brought this to your attention,” he reminded the governor.

He said he is disappointed that Fitial didn’t give him an opportunity ‘to respond to this nonsense.” “However, I am confident that my removal is more political than my actual performance,” Norita said.

Norita was off-island when he received his termination letter. He was set to return to the island last night.

Six Reasons

In his farewell letter to DPS personnel on Friday, Norita cited six reasons why he was removed:

First, he said, for having Lt. Gov. Timothy Villagomez sign his travel authorization.

Second, Norita said, for not giving in to an official’s “ridiculous” reasons to give up his agency’s obligation to provide aids to navigation and then complaining to Fitial when the U.S. Coast Guard stood by DPS’ decision on its grant funds.

The other reason, Norita said, was his refusal to transfer experienced detectives from DPS to the AG’s White Collar Crime Unit because, according to the special prosecutor, their own investigators cannot do the job.

“This is demoralizing to hear, especially when the AG investigators are getting paid $40,000 plus a year while our police officers are struggling at $17,000.”

The fourth reason, Norita said, was his refusal to sign an AG-initiated memorandum of understanding on a long-term transfer of experienced detectives to the AG Investigative Unit without giving DPS an opportunity to provide input to the MOU.

The other reason, he said, was when he acknowledged to the media the Attorney General’s Office’s delay in prosecuting a year-old traffic fatality case.

Norita said the last reason he was kicked out was his being “loyal to a friend.” He did not elaborate.

“I have to credit Mr. Ray Mafnas for fanatically pushing for my removal. As for why? I leave it up to you to arrive at your own conclusion which I suspect would be the same as mine and probably everybody else reading this letter,” he said.

Reyes said, though, that it was the governor’s sole decision. “I don’t know if we can attribute [the decision] to any other Cabinet member. He [Fitial] made the decision and the decision only rests with the governor,” Reyes said.

Norita told DPS personnel that the commissioner serves at the pleasure of the governor.

“I understand the position that I was appointed to and the conditions of such appointment. However, Claudio K. Norita does not serve at the pleasure of the Governor, but rather the people of the CNMI,” he said.