Sag Harbor Detective Faces Charges

The Sag Harbor Village Police Department is without a detective after its sole detective was brought up on disciplinary charges.

The Sag Harbor Village Board approved the suspension of Jeffrey Proctor during a special meeting on March 23 following a recommendation from Chief Austin McGuire that had been discussed in executive session. Detective Proctor is entitled to a hearing, and the board appointed John G. Callahan, an attorney from White Plains, as the hearing officer. He was suspended for 30 days without pay, and has since been put on administrative leave with pay until the hearing can be scheduled.

Reached on Monday, Detective Proctor, who was named the village’s Officer of the Year at a 2014 Southampton Kiwanis Club dinner, said he hoped to be back to work soon, but declined to comment further. Davis and Ferber, an Islandia firm that represents the Sag Harbor Village Police Benevolence Association, is defending Detective Proctor on the charges.

Patrick Milazzo, the president of the P.B.A. and a village officer, said that while he could not discuss details, the charges are administrative in nature. “He’s not charged with any violation of law or anything like that,” Mr. Milazzo said. “I think the charges are weak. I think that if the village were to investigate a little bit deeper . . . they would find that to be the case. . . . Sometimes in a small town people listen to rumors a little bit more than they should.”

“The village can look forward to a vigorous defense,” Mr. Milazzo added.

“Unfortunately, it’s a personnel matter that I can’t comment on,” Chief McGuire said this week. Without a detective, the state police are being brought in to help the village police with investigations, like a burglary this week at the Sag Harbor Variety store, he said. 

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Sandra Schroeder said the matter was confidential and declined to comment. Vincent Toomey of New Hyde Park, the village’s labor attorney, will represent the village at the hearing.