New Haven police officer Dennis O’Connell is being sued in federal courts with allegations of brutality and an illegal strip search. While city union cops defended O’Connell, citing the difficulties of patrolling violent neighborhoods, the officer’s record contained eight complaints of excessive force within recent years. Not one of the those complaints resulted in disciplinary action from within the department. The lawsuits are the latest controversial incidents at te NHPD. In 2007, three detectives in the department’s narcotics enforcement unit were implicated in various corruption charges.

—The Associated Press contributed reporting.