HMMMM, WAS I MISTAKEN ?

How did the Hartford Police outside investigation actually get started? Well first off, I don't think any of the information was even public until it started getting posted here. Eventually attorneys began calling for outside investigations, it started with the Attorneys for Lt. Neville Brooks after he was abruptly removed from his position as Commander of Internal Affairs. It escalated after Rashim Campbell was exonerated of criminal allegations against him when a jury acquitted him. His attorney has raised allegations of improper techniques and even possibilities of false testimony by the IAD investigator, Lt. Robert Ford.

The attorney's for Lt. Brooks even went so far as to mention "the blog" in their request for an outside investigation. It appears that there was more than enough pressure brought to bear on the Chief and Mayor before they launched their "independent investigation". On Thursday, Chief Roberts, in a memo to his officers and staff, advised that the investigation was ordered after he informed the Mayor of "internal matters". I think it was more outside pressure than any move to fully investigate the matter by the Mayor or Chief that led to the outside investigation.

Here is the Chief's memo to "all personnel". The actual investigation is expected to begin on Thursday.

IAD Review Memo From Chief

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

Yes, there is a park in there somewhere, maybe we can offset the City deficit by selling hay bales


I received a call today from Donna Daniels-Thompson who was frustrated with the condition of a small neighborhood park at the intersection of Cornwall and Lyme Streets in Hartford. Daniels-Thompson is the President of the Blue Hills Civic Association and the Blue Hills NRZ.

Sit down, relax, enjoy all that Hartford has to offer. Check yourself for ticks when you are done, and yes, that actually is a park bench being overgrown by the grass



She said she was frustrated because the grass was so high in the park that no one could use it. She said she and others had repeatedly been calling 311, the Mayors Office as well as Council People to get the area mowed and cleaned up. The problem arose because no one wanted to lay claim to the property. Public Works apparently said it belonged to the Board of Education and guess what...the Board of Education said it belonged to DPW.

The park sits directly across from the former Mountain Laurel School which was apparently closed down last August.According to Daniels-Thompson, when the school was open the Board actually did maintain the park since it was used by students . Once the school closed, no one bothered to continue maintaining the park, and by the looks of it they forgot about the school also.

According to Daniels-Thompson, even people she spoke with in the Mayor's Office admitted how bad the park looked. Even Daniels-Thompson friend, Council President rJo Winch, admitted she knew how bad it was. Why nothing got done is a good question, but today Donna took a stand. She started making her phone calls early this morning and told anyone that would listen that she wasn't leaving the park until the grass was mowed.

I guess the bottom line is that this sounds like high school nonsense. It is all city property, get it cleaned up, end of story. In the end, as the complaint made its way up the ladder, DPW Director Kevin Burnham showed up, surveyed the problem, and the grass was mowed. Maybe one of his high priced supervisors should have seen the problem and addressed it before it rose to this level. As a side note, I am being told that almost 40 new employees will be hired over the next couple of weeks specifically to address maintenance and parks issues.

She then decided that she needed to call me. I must be getting a reputation because things progressed rapidly this afternoon after the Mayor's Representative and DPW officials were told I was on the way. It could be a coincidence but just as I arrived to take some pictures, the lawnmowers showed up, the rotted trash barrel that fell apart when they picked it up to empty it was replaced by a newly painted one and the park was getting cleaned up.

Even one resident came over from Chatham Street, somewhat surprised that anyone was paying attention to the park. She said she couldn't even walk her dog in the park because the grass was so high. She even said that she had considered coming over with her own mower if it got much worse.

She said that she believed that some of her neighbors had been repeatedly calling 311 without any success. But finally, just in time for some great weather and a holiday weekend, hopefully these neighbors will once again have a clean park to relax in and the children can enjoy the playscape.

I have a real problem with the number of high priced employees and supervisors, City Council people included, who can drive by an eyesore like this and just accept it. Unlike the Capitol West building, mowing the grass won't take $5 million dollars, but it also impacts the blight of a neighborhood. Why can't we focus on the little things that make a big difference?

And as if the condition of the park wasn't aggravating enough, as I spoke with Daniels-Thompson and the Chatham Street neighbor, my eye kept going to the vacant school right behind us. I started to wonder why we let a city school, that was usable until last August and according to Donna was in pretty decent shape, sit empty while at the same time we are renting space for millions of dollars annually for the Board of Education at 960 Main Street, rather than move them to an empty school?

I guess our present Council is too busy debating the war in Afghanistan or french fries cooked in trans-fat than to actually focus on change for Hartford.

SECORE WINS....AGAIN

Last week the Hartford City Council touted their huge accomplishment, at least in their minds, of shaving about $1.7 million dollars off of a $550 million dollar budget. That comes out to roughly less than 3 tenths of one percent.

But fortunately, I have a suggestion for the Council to be able to shave a lot more than that. Hire some attorneys in the Corporation Counsel's Office who actually know what they are doing, especially in the area of Labor law.

Huge amounts of money each year are spent defending and appealing the City's stinker cases when it comes to wrongful termination of employees. Much more has been spent, I'm sure ,on defending losing cases that most likely should have never been brought in the first place. Let's see what the Dan Nolan case costs the City of Hartford taxpayers in the end just for legal costs, not to mention what I'm sure will be a rather large Jury award in Dan's favor also.

Add onto that Willie Edwards, Robert Lawlor, Robert Murtha and others that have already been silently settled behind the scenes.Hartford has a terrible track record when it comes to apparently violating employees rights and then trying to defend their actions.

The latest Court decision came today after the City of Hartford decided to ignore an arbitration award in favor of Hartford Police Officer Matthew Secore. Secore was terminated from HPD, went through the appeal process with the Labor Board and they decided in Secore's favor.

The Board agreed that Secore's actions were wrong, but that the termination was too severe and ordered a 90 day suspension instead. The City and the brain trust in the Corporation Counsels Office decided to appeal. Today Judge Satter resoundingly affirmed the Labor Boards decision and threw out the Corporation Counsels argument.

To read more about the Secore case from an earlier post, click here

That decision is below. In true Hartford fashion though, most likely egos will win out over common sense and I would bet that another appeal will be on the way. What does Judge Satter know compared to the legal geniuses in Corp Counsel?

Secore Decision 5-27-11

HOW CAN THIS BE?

Channel 30 just reported at 11:00PM that Hartford is the 14th most violent City in America based on recently released FBI crime statistics. New Haven is listed as the 4th most violent.

Haven't we been told repeatedly that crime is down in Hartford? Good thing, otherwise we might have been number 1.

Hartford had 1,293 violent crimes per 100,000 people. There were 21 murders per 100,000 people, more than double the national average.

UP IN SMOKE

It seems that HPD is starting their spring cleaning prior to a possible larger scale housecleaning, depending on the "independent investigation" that is about to commence.

Boxes and boxes of payroll time cards were incinerated yesterday, just days before investigators are scheduled to begin looking into possible irregularities at the Hartford Police Department. The payroll cards may have also shed light on activities similar to those that led to the arrest of former Hartford Police Officer Hector Robles.

Robles, through his attorneys, has a rather extensive Freedom of Information request with the HPD and the City of Hartford currently pending.

The City had requested permission from the State of Connecticut to destroy the records, as required by state law. That request was granted on May 10, 2011.

The records were transported to an incinerator in Wallingford and the entire operation was overseen by a Hartford Police Captain who also followed the trash truck containing the records and watched as they were burned.

I'm not sure if this is the normal procedure, but it all seems interesting in light of the current state of affairs at Jennings Road.

MAYOR SEGARRA , PLEASE SHARE THE TRUTH WITH US

As you can see from the above video, Mayor Pedro Segarra speaks quite often about transparency.The clip is edited, but during a three minute speech at the Legislative Office Building recently, he used the word transparency quite a few times. But is "transparency" really the case?

Last Thursday my phone started ringing early in the day about the breakfast get-together of Mayor Segarra and former Hartford Police Officer Hector Robles who is also the State Representative from the 6th District. Robles, in the true style of Hartford politics, is also currently under arrest on larceny charges where the States Attorney's Office alleges that he stole over $10,000 from the City of Hartford.

The calls were mostly from the "political" types questioning whether it was proper for Segarra to be be meeting privately with someone who was terminated from the City, was facing a possible trial and in turn could be contemplating legal action against the City. All valid points, and I would think it would have been wise for the Mayor to bring a third party along to, as they say, "have his back" if any questions of impropriety arose.

The original parties that called me could only confirm the meeting though, they didn't hear any of the conversation. Then I received another call Friday night from someone who is not political and was upset over a conversation they had claimed that they heard that morning between Robles and Segarra while this person was having breakfast at Ashlee's on Main Street.

UPDATE 9:00pm

I just received a call back from Mayor Segarra regarding this meeting and I am doing something that I don't think I have ever done since I started this blog.

Although I am 100% confident with the information provided to me by the sources that called, there was something that bothered me about the post. I have to feel comfortable with what I write here and after speaking to Mayor Segarra, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one and edit the details of the conversation.

I still think the meeting was inappropriate, and the Mayor should have shown better judgement. Eventually the truth comes to the surface and if nothing else all of the candidates should realize to stay above the fray because you never know who is watching, and in this case listening

IN CASE YOU DON'T READ THE COMMENTS

In response to the posting regarding the upcoming Hartford Police Internal Affairs Investigation, I received the following e-mail from Frank Rudewicz whose firm will be conducting the investigation.

I think it is important that I post the e-mail address Frank has set up for anyone that wants to provide information. In addition, I will be more than willing to forward information that is provided to me to the investigators if you prefer to not have any link back to you or your e-mail or IP address.

I have also been told that some of the investigators are expected to be either current or former Investigators from the Boston Police Department Internal Affairs Division and that Rudewicz will essentially be playing a supervisory role.

Here is Frank's e-mail:

Kevin, this is Frank Rudewicz. While I appreciate that individuals have their own opinions on the upcoming review of HPD, I will be ensuring the integrity of the process by seeking all relevant information from any sources.

In that regard, I have set up a confidential email address at HPDIADinquiry@gmail.com. I request that all relevant information be forwarded to me, either anonymously or otherwise.

This email will only be opened by me or my assistant, Kati Allison in Boston. Content will be shared with my investigative team as required. I will respond to all emails.

THERE ARE STILL GOOD THINGS HAPPENING AT HPD

Even though it seems like a lot of questionable activities are taking place at Jennings Road, there is still some good police work going on.

One such incident happened today.

Thefts of copper piping from both occupied and unoccupied buildings are becoming a huge problem as the scrap price for copper continues to rise. These thefts are negatively impacting the city's crime figures as part 1 crimes. Even the new Public Safety Complex is not immune as much of the newly installed copper pipe was stolen from the building this week.

An observant HPD officer was working a construction job today when he observed a vehicle pass him with lengths of copper pipe sticking out of the trunk of the car. A description of the car was broadcast and the vehicle was followed to a scrap yard in the North Meadows. The pipe was identified as having just been stolen from a Hartford Housing Authority apartment complex.

The copper thief and his car were taken off the street, at least for the day.

I GUESS I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF "INDEPENDENT"

Let me start this post off by saying I know Frank Rudewicz and I have known him for many years. Rudewicz is a retired Hartford Police officer. Rudewicz and his firm were apparently hired today by Mayor Pedro Segarra to investigate the problems at HPD. I don't have any doubt that Rudewicz is qualified and has a good track record, but the appearance stinks.

Why don't we just save the money and ask Chief Roberts and his command staff to investigate themselves, that would appear almost as legit to the public as a retired HPD officer investigating his former co-workers. We have seen how forthcoming Chief McKoy is when he has accidents with city vehicles so I'm sure we could count on him to get to the truth.

We also know that we could count on Assistant Chief Horvath to properly conduct the sensitive interviews without opening the City and its taxpayers to any liability. Assistant Chief Heavren could be asked to catalog and record all of the evidence collected, hopefully he won't have the same "loss of memory" that occurred with the photos from the lederhosen incident.

And so that everyone has a role and feels wanted in the Chief's complex, maybe the Deputy Chiefs could be called on to handle any video evidence.

And just in case anything goes wrong or the investigation takes a bad turn, blame it on Lieutenant Brooks, he already has lawyers on retainer so that shouldn't be a problem. Well, there is one problem, since Lt. Brooks answered directly to Chief Roberts, it might be hard to insulate the Chief from any responsibility like "failure to supervise".

This decision makes no sense and really makes me question the decision making of Mayor Segarra. This is a critical decision that needs to show the public that they can trust their police department and the truth will eventually come through. This should have truly been an "independent" entity that has no allegiance to anyone and will follow the evidence where ever it goes.

Anything short of criminal charges being lodged against the individuals involved will smack of a whitewash. This decision just makes the "Blue wall of silence" appear even stronger to those people outside the police department, i.e. also known as the general public.

The Mayor should know better and from the phone calls I am receiving from several members of the public and HPD officers as well, they agree the appointment of someone with ties to HPD already smacks of a coverup. I am in no way casting any doubt on Rudewicz, but Segarra has automatically done that by his selection.

And while I'm questioning Mayor Segarra's decision making, I would like to ask him if he thinks it is appropriate to be meeting privately with someone fired from HPD and subsequently arrested by the States Attorney. It seems that Segarra had a "private" session with former HPD Officer Hector Robles at a Main Street breakfast joint yesterday. At the very least it should be raising some issues as to what was discussed, what potential deals might be getting cut in a tough election year by a police officer under arrest and a Mayor scrambling for votes.

It just seems crazy to open the doors to criticism by poor decision making.

But then again, this is the hometown of Mark Twain who through his boy Tom Sawyer made the "whitewash" famous in his writings. Maybe the final report can be released from the steps of the Twain House. The only question is whether the public sees it as a work of fact or fiction

MORE HPD FALLOUT: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER LAWSUIT?

As more layers get peeled back regarding the Administration at the Hartford Police Department, one thing is becoming very clear, the "independent outside investigators" will definitely have their hands full.

Looking at the problems from the outside, it seems that many decisions are being made without any regard for the City's liability or even the rights of individual employees. Below are the details of one recent incident that will eventually be landing in Court, unless the City uses some common sense first.

The details laid out below probably would never be tolerated in the "real" corporate world. I would venture to say that if any administrator or even a Human Resources director opened a private employer up to potential liability by ill advised or vindictive decisions, they would be on the unemployment line quickly.

In the case of a police officer, their biggest asset is their reputation and their integrity. Any attempt to question that had better be made based on solid information, and only after a thorough investigation has been conducted. Every effort should be made to ensure the highest level of confidentiality to protect the individuals reputation.

Whether it is an employee of the Aetna or a Hartford Police officer, professionalism should be the number one requirement when it comes to investigating allegations.That was not the case below.

Based on anonymous allegations, which eventually turned out to be not so anonymous but were actually unsubstantiated allegations made by one HPD Sergeant to another Sergeant, this incident began to snowball.

I normally don't redact names from documents, but in this case since the allegations were purely hearsay and gossip, I have chosen to redact the officer's name to avoid further damage to their reputation. The names of a Lieutenant and the two Sergeants have also been redacted until an outside investigation is complete.

The officer in question had been called into the office of Assistant Chief John Horvath and was advised that there was "hearsay" information that they were using narcotics.This is according to the officers attorney, Hugh Keefe, in a letter sent to Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts on March 30, 2011.

The officer volunteered to comply with an immediate drug test, hardly the logical behavior of a drug user. The department refused to provide a drug test and never followed through with subsequent offers to submit to a drug test. The officer has apparently had several drug tests done on their own. at their own personal expense.All of those reports have been negative for cocaine and marijuana as well as several other drugs. One of the reports can be seen after the PDF file of Attorney Keefe's letter below.

This matter may be directly linked to the removal of Internal Affairs Division Commander Lieutenant Neville Brooks. The officer apparently requested an Internal investigation into the way the matter was handled and whether Assistant Chief Horvath overstepped his boundaries in the way he handled unsubstantiated allegations and "hearsay" rumors. That investigation was apparently in the beginning stages when Brook's was removed.

At no time was the officer afforded his rights under the HPD Union Contract such as having a Union steward or Union representative present nor was he advised of his Miranda rights or his Garrity rights, basic labor law regulations that Assistant Chief Horvath or anyone else at his level of management should have been well aware of.

According to Attorney Keefe's letter, the original Sergeant contended that the information was coming to him through a "confidential source". It was later learned that the information was actually coming from another Sergeant in the Patrol Division who denied making the statement when he was confronted.

Keefe's letter claims that the Department and Assistant Chief Horvath's actions "failed to maintain confidentiality causing severe and irreparable damage to "redacted officers"reputation. If that doesn't scream out "large jury award", I don't know what does.

This is only the beginning. If you wonder about the degrees of discipline at HPD, read the letter below and make your own conclusions. Then over the next couple of weeks I will be posting about clearly documented and verified incidents that took a much different direction. Even incidents clearly documented, some actually caught by video, were hardly even noticed.

It promises to be a very interesting "immediate independent investigation".

In the mean time Assistant Chief Horvath has been informed that his last day at HPD will be July 1,2011 due to budget cuts. The money might come in handy to pay future legal settlements. As a side note, I'm being told there was an "abruptly" scheduled meeting between Chief Roberts and Mayor Segarra for tomorrow at 4:00PM, that could prove very interesting.

Atty Keefe Horvath Letter

CHIEF'S COMPLEX CUTS

Numerous sources are telling me that two Assistant Chief's at the Hartford Police Department have been told that their positions will be eliminated as a result of budget cuts made last night by the Hartford City Council.

Both Assistant Chief Brian Heavren and Assistant Chief John Horvath have apparently been told that July 1, 2011 will be their last day at HPD. Although it is being explained as the result of budget cuts, it seems hard to ignore the fact of the impending "independent investigation" that is looming over the Chief's complex at Jennings Road. Both Horvath and Heavren as well as every other Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and even Chief Roberts himself potentially will be under scrutiny as a result of allegations of wrongdoing.

Much of this has been brought to light as a result of the Internal Affairs Commander, Lieutenant Neville Brooks, being abruptly removed from his position . Allegations have been made that Brooks was conducting IAD investigations that involved members of the Chief's ranks that were coming too close to the "Exalted" class of Chief's. The Chief's paint a different picture that Brook's was discourteous in the interviews of them, although recordings made of the interviews apparently don't back those claims up.

Sources familiar with the recordings claim that the questionings were professional and in line with normal practices. At least two of the Chief's were actually given their Garrity rights before being questioned which apparently insulted the "exalted" even more.

As a side note, other sources have advised me that the "independent investigation" may be conducted by the New York State Police, the same agency that was requested to conduct a review of the Connecticut State Police a few years ago. No official confirmation is available on that yet.This could be problematic for HPD if many of the comments posted here prove true, as the investigation will not be a whitewash of the information, but will actually go where the truth leads investigators.

This promises to go deeper as the hornet's nest is poked more and the information keeps coming out.

The budget cuts aren't a definite done deal yet as the Mayor could veto the Council's resolution. It seems that there would be the necessary votes to override the Mayor's veto by the Council. The other side of the coin though is that the Mayor is most likely not thrilled with any hint of a scandal being condoned by him in an election year, and a hotly contested election at that. The selective cuts by the Council seem to be sending a pretty clear message.

IS NOTHING SAFE IN HARTFORD? COPPER'S COPPER STOLEN

According to police sources, much of the copper piping that has been installed at the new Public Safety Complex on High Street has been stolen in the last 72 hours. A large portion of the copper was found to be missing yesterday morning and more was found missing this morning.

But if nothing else, the thieves need to understand that it is not smart to steal copper from the "coppers". By this afternoon, much of the copper has been located at a city scrapyard and the perpetrators can be readily identified through video and other safeguards in place. The copper piping was also readily identifiable by the type of couplings used to join the pipes together.

A timely arrest is expected.

OFFICER RASHIM CAMPBELL DEMANDS RE-INSTATEMENT

In a strongly worded letter from his attorney, former HPD Officer Rashim Campbell is demanding re-instatement to the police force.

In the letter, Attorney Sal Bonnano claims that Lt. Robert Ford's investigation when he was a Sergeant in Internal Affairs Division was "biased, unfair and slanted investigation" against Campbell.

The remainder of the letter is also strongly worded and lays out other accusations as well as demanding an independent investigation by an outside agency such as the Connecticut State Police. The letter is posted below.

HPD Rashim Campbell Letter

HARTFORD POLICE FIREARMS REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS CRY FOUL, CINTRON MEMBERS LIKELY TO FOLLOW

I spoke with members of the City of Hartford Firearms Review Board last night and asked them if the Pawtucket Street shooting video influenced their decision making when they decided that the shooting was proper.

I received several blank stares and then angry comments as to "what video?". Apparently the video was withheld from the civilians on the Board and they were unaware of its existence. They stated that they are supposed to decide whether a shooting is justified or not based upon the facts, yet they were not given all of the facts.

This could also pose a problem on another front. At least three people that were part of the conversation are also members of the panel involved with the Cintron-Vaughn consent decree which still hangs over the head of HPD. They stated that they would be calling for a meeting next week to discuss these issues, particularly IAD issues which they believe are in violation of the Federal Court order

MORE HARTFORD POLICE INTERNAL AFFAIRS DETAILS

Much of this story has come out in bits and pieces, and much more will come out the same way as information is verified. I will eventually try to lay the whole story out so that even those not familiar with the "Police politics" and the players can follow and understand.

In the meantime, I received several calls yesterday afternoon regarding the letter from Attorney Bart Halloran to Mayor Segarra that was posted yesterday. In that letter it mentions the IAD investigations into several members of the Department, including the Chief of Police, Daryl. K. Roberts.

Since that posting has not been restored yet, I am reposting the letter here as well as Mayor Segarra's comments:

MAYOR SEGARRA DIRECTS POLICE CHIEF
TO ORDER INDEPENDENT REVIEW

---NEWS AND COMMUNITY STATEMENT---

(May 12, 2011) --- Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra issued this statement today regarding the Hartford Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division:

“I have already met with Police Chief Daryl Roberts and have directed him to order an immediate independent review of the IAD. As matters continue to unfold, I reserve my right to take additional action to preserve the integrity, trust, and public safety of the community.”

N Brooks Atty Letter

I hadn't heard the Chief mentioned as a target of any investigations, other than the fact that he was in charge.

Apparently the IAD investigation into the Pawtucket Street shooting was leading towards involvement by the Chief and his actions the night of the shooting.

On the night of the Pawtucket Street shooting the officers involved were removed from the shooting scene and taken to the Hartford Police Union office at 20 Sargent Street in Hartford. Former Union President Richard Rodriguez and at the time Vice President Richard Holton as well as others were in the Union Office (Holton has since been elected as Union President to replace Rodriguez).

For some reason former Mayor Eddie Perez and Chief Roberts were also in attendance at the union office. The videographer who had been filming a documentary with the officers involved in the shooting, Jeffrey Teitler, was also in the Union office. From what sources are telling me, Lieutenant Scott Sansom,(now Deputy Chief Sansom} who was the commander of the Intelligence Division at the time was also present.

After the shooting, sources have told me that Sansom secured Teitler's video camera in the trunk of his unmarked cruiser. Once the State Police took over the investigation, the video contained on the "v-card" in Teitler's camera became a critical part of evidence for the investigation. A "v-card" is similar to a flash drive and stores the video rather than using a video tape. The "v-card" plugs into a slot on the camera.

At some point during the evening, from what sources are telling me, a conversation took place between Chief Roberts, former Mayor Perez and Union President Rich Rodriguez. Subsequent to that conversation, Rodriguez and Teitler left the Union Office, along with the "v-card". It is not known yet exactly what the conversation was or why the "critical evidence" contained on the "v-card " left the Union Office.

Apparently that was an issue with State Police investigators and again, from what several sources are telling me, the "v-card" only reappeared after Rodriguez was threatened with arrest for interfering with the investigation.

The investigation seemed to have been sitting around for a while, but after Sgt. Rodriguez lost his bid for re-election, he had to go back to regular duty. That created a problem because Chief Roberts apparently wanted to assign him to IAD as an investigator. Since the Pawtucket Street investigation was still open, it had to be completed and closed out.

Chief Robert's, according to sources, ordered Lt. Brooks to complete the investigation

It seems that was the direction that the investigation was going when former Lt. Sansom, now Deputy Chief Sansom and Chief Roberts were apparently drawn into the investigation.

Sansom, as commander of the Intelligence Division was also the direct supervisor for several of the officers involved in the shooting incident and clearly pictured on the video.

The picture keeps becoming clearer as more information comes out, but it seems pretty clear already that IAD was not a welcome addition in the Chief's Complex when looking into an incident like the Pawtucket Street shooting.

Hopefully the "immediate independent investigation" ordered today by Mayor Segarra will continue down the path to the truth that it seems like Lt. Brooks and his investigators were headed down

I'M BACKKKKK

The blog has been down for the last 24 hours, but there was no conspiracy.

Blogger, which is run by Google as "blogspot.com" apparently had server issues for all of the blogs they host after a recent update. Eventually they had to rollback to Wednesday morning and are now in the process of restoring those posts.

In the meantime, everything seems to be up and running again.

MAYOR ORDERS INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF HARTFORD POLICE IAD

Sources are telling me that a letter has been delivered to Mayor Segarra today from the attorneys for Lieutenant Neville Brooks requesting an outside investigation into actions at the Hartford Police Department, specifically the Internal Affairs Division.

According to the sources, shortly after the letter was received, Chief Daryl K. Roberts was summoned to the Mayor's Office.

Numerous issues have been raised here on the blog as well as numerous comments calling for an outside investigation.

This afternoon Mayor Segarra ordered Chief Roberts to initiate an "immediate independent review" into the IAD matter.

Here is Mayor Segarra's statement:

(May 12, 2011) --- Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra issued this statement today regarding the Hartford Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division:

“I have already met with Police Chief Daryl Roberts and have directed him to order an immediate independent review of the IAD. As matters continue to unfold, I reserve my right to take additional action to preserve the integrity, trust, and public safety of the community.”


Please keep posting details here, or contact me personally if you feel more comfortable with that. Shining light on these things does make a difference.

Below is the letter from Lieutenant Brooks' attorney to Mayor Segarra requesting the outside investigation:

N Brooks Atty Letter

I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE A CONNECTION

It seems that the Superintendent of Schools in Shelton,Connecticut Freeman Burr, who has apparently dug his heels in regarding the James Tate prom ordeal was previously at the Hartford Board of Education as their "Human Resources Executive".

I knew there had to be a tie to Hartford, it's just too crazy to make sense.

Thanks to the poster who brought it to light.

A JUROR CALLS AND ANOTHER ONE WRITES

It seems like the hornet's nest at the Hartford Police Department continues to be poked, and plenty of people are willing to talk about it.

Last night a comment was posted by someone who claimed to be a juror in the Rashim Campbell case. I asked them to get in touch with me and tonight they did. Another juror has apparently also posted a comment here on the blog.

It continues to amaze me the following this blog has developed and who is actually reading.

The juror who called had some very interesting information to relay. The two biggest factors in Rashim Campbell's acquittal were that, according to the juror, the Prosecution didn't do their job and that the IAD investigator was not credible.

The juror was very candid and didn't avoid any of the questions I asked. Apparently the feeling was unanimous when they entered the jurors room, but Lieutenant Ford started off on the wrong foot right from the start. Now keep in mind that these jurors really didn't know the facts of the case other than what was presented in the court room. They didn't know the police officers, they didn't know the alleged victim Michael Stewart and they definitely had never heard of IAD Sergeant Rob Ford.

I guess the recently promoted Lieutenant Ford had tried to impress the jurors with his introduction, but that apparently backfired big time. In his introduction, Lt. Ford informed the jurors that he was the newly promoted Lieutenant for the Blue Hills area of the City and proudly told the jurors "If you have any problems in Blue Hills, call me ".

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. The juror who called me said that almost all of the jurors felt as though they were being offered a bribe by Lt. Ford. They also said that he seemed to need his notes to be able to testify and that raised questions. For whatever reason, they also felt that Ford's promotion might have been a reward for the Campbell investigation.

That one took me by surprise, because keep in mind, the jury had no knowledge of the politics or the players that seem to be coming to the surface recently.

The other part that surprised me, was that the jurors thought the prosecution didn't do their job. Apparently the general consensus was that the facts hadn't been laid out and even the video didn't support the assault allegations and looked more like reasonable force to get the situation under control.

During the conversation I was asked why they would put a new prosecutor in charge of this case. The juror was very surprised to find out that the prosecutor was actually Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy and was not a brand new prosecutor.

In the end, it seemed like a pretty clear decision for the jurors and apparently the perceived credibility of Lt. Ford played a large role.A unanimous not guilty verdict was reached in less than an hour.

Another juror posted their thoughts on the trial under the posting "Officer Rashim Campbell...not guilty on all counts"

In the meantime, several police sources are telling me that the calls for an outside investigation into the Hartford Police Department are mounting. Requests are being prepared for investigations into the removal of Lt. Brooks as well as potentially false information fabricated for the Rashim Campbell arrest warrant application as well as potential complaints against Lieutenant Ford.

This can prove to be an interesting situation for Mayor Pedro Segarra and how he approaches these problems in an election year. This one has the potential to blow up into a major problem and seems to be getting worse by the day.

Keep those calls coming.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Sometimes it seems like we have become immune to things that affect young people and how decisions can change their lives.

I usually focus on Hartford issues, but luckily this is one idiotic decision that we don't have to take blame for.

It seems that a student at Shelton High School, James Tate, came up with a creative way to ask for a prom date. He had the audacity to cut out large paper letters and tape them to the front of Shelton High School asking "SONALI RODRIGUES, WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME? HMU, TATE" . For those not familiar with the texting lingo, "HMU" is nothing improper, it means "hit me up".

For being creative, the headmaster of the school has suspended Tate and revoked his right to go to the Prom. It wasn't graffiti done with spray paint and there was no damage done to the building. And I would even imagine that Sonali felt pretty special when she arrived at school Friday morning and saw the invitation.

Sonali promptly said yes.

This is absurd that Tate was punished to this extreme and the Headmaster should be ashamed for her actions.The headmaster, Dr. Beth Smith, can be reached at 203-922-3004 ext. 512 or by e-mail by clicking here

Something as important as the prom could also be disastrous when yanked away like this. In a city like Hartford plagued with youth violence and under performing students, I would hope that any Hartford educator would have handled a creative move like this in a much more positive manner.

Call or e-mail Doctor Smith and let her know what you think. I guess it goes to show that some people like Dr. Smith can be educated, but common sense can't be taught.

Good job Tate, and Somali should be fortunate to have a date with a young man that can be creative and respectful.

A facebook page has also been created "Let James Tate Go to the Prom"

OFFICER RASHIM CAMPBELL...NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

Hartford Police Officer Rashim Campbell, who was arrested and terminated last year after being accused of assaulting a prisoner, was found not guilty today by a Superior Court Jury.

Closing arguments took place this morning and the jury was given the case after lunch. It took a little over two hurs for the jury to return with their not guilty verdict.

HPD, THE WONDER OF IT ALL

I'm not quite sure who is paying attention to what is going on at the Hartford Police Department, but it seems to be bordering on the absurd lately when it comes to Labor issues.

First we had the whole Lt. Neville Brooks situation. Chief Roberts made it a point last week to tell all of the officers in HPD roll calls on Saturday not to believe everything on "We the People" because they were only reading one side of a story. Fair enough, but so far there doesn't seem to be much on "the other side" of the story.

The we had the Lt Ed Dailey story. This is going to prove to be another interesting personnel matter. I haven't posted anything about it yet because the City and Chief Roberts are stonewalling me on releasing the IAD report into Dailey. To make a long story short, the IAD report as defined by Connecticut law is a public document once it is completed.

The report was completed several weeks ago and a disciplinary hearing was scheduled to be held for Dailey this past Thursday on May 5, 2011. The Chief and Assistant Corporation Counsel Nathalie Feola-Guerrieri are claiming that the report, even though it is complete, is exempt from disclosure. The claim that it is exempt as an "ongoing investigation" is close, but neither the Chief or Feola-Guerrieri seem to notice that one extra word in the exemption "ongoing CRIMINAL investigation".

There are no criminal allegations against Dailey nor has anyone been advised that there may potentially be any criminal allegations. It is purely administrative. Is this one more example of the "transparency" we keep hearing the Mayor and the Chief speak of?

But just when the hearing was supposed to be held, it was abruptly cancelled. According to sources, an IAD complaint has been lodged by Dailey against his accuser, Captain James Bernier. Then, as if that wasn't enough, the Hartford Police Union has now taken up the claims of another Officer who apparently was ordered by Captain Bernier to disclose information from a private, off-duty conversation

The Union memo to Bernier is below, and if you can follow all of this, it details the allegations better than I can here. Sources are also telling me that in the end, this may be an attempt to disqualify the department advocate, Lt. Marco Tedeschi from any involvement in Dailey's hearing. The Department advocate acts as kind of a prosecutor at disciplinary hearings. A panel of three police Captains act as the "judges" and eventually make a recommendation to the Chief as to their findings.

HPD UNION MEMO TO CAPT. BERNIER

Lt.Tedeschi apparently submitted an interdepartmental memo to Chief Roberts last week advising against proceeding with Dailey's hearing. It seems that Lt. Tedeschi did not feel that the accusations rose to the level of discipline being taken. I hope to obtain that memo in the upcoming week and it will be posted here.

And to end the week of the absurd, apparently another police Lieutenant had his unmarked City vehicle towed from the rear of the police department after he refused to move it from the entryway he was blocking.

Only in Hartford.

My FOI Complaint against the City in regards to the Dailey report is below. It's a little long , but you can see how the City works hard to deny release of documents:

TO: Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission

Please accept this e-mail as an official complaint against the City of Hartford and the following City of Hartford officials: Mayor Pedro Segarra, Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee-Borges, Attorney Nathalie Feola-Guerrieri, Police Chief Daryl Roberts and Detective Ursula Wiebusch. All parties involved have potential care and control over the requested documents and/or are in a position to facilitate their disclosure.

All of the above individuals were responsible or participated in the decision making that resulted in the denial of the attached request for records under the Freedom of Information Act.

On or about April 1, 2005 the following request for public documents was made to Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts via e-mail:

Chief,
>>
>>In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act I am requesting the following for review:
>>
>>Any and all documentation as well as the completed investigative report regarding Lt. Ed Dailey and the incident that occurred at or about 17 Rockville Street on or about February 24, 2011. I believe that the original investigation was started by Captain Bernier. If you need any clarification as to what I am requesting, please feel free to contact me.
>>
>>It is also my understanding that the report has been completed and distributed and is no longer a pending investigation
>>
>>Thank you

That request was promptly acknowledged by Chief Roberts, also by an e-mail back to me.

On April 26, 2011, since I had not heard anymore back on the request, I once again e-mailed a follow up request to Chief Roberts . That e-mail was promptly answered by Chief Roberts as follows:

Mr. Brookman,

Thank you for the reminder. If you're entitled to this information I will provide it according the rules and regulations of FOI. I will follow up and contact you by the end of business on Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

Detective Wiebusch,

Please look into this and advise me as soon as possible. Thank you once again.

Daryl K. Roberts
Chief of Police
Hartford Police Department

In the above e-mail, Chief Roberts directed Detective Wiebusch to handle the matter.

On April 27, 2011 I received an e-mail from Detective Wiebusch with a "PDF" file attached of a letter
signed by Chief Roberts denying my request claiming that the report was part of an ongoing investigation. The report has been completed and through a third party, I have seen the
completed report. The report has been distributed to various individuals, and my contention is that the report is a public document.

In addition, there is apparently no criminal behavior being alleged in the investigation or report which would be the only basis for any exemption as claimed by the City. Under 1-210, the only exemption I can see that might apply. Since the City and the Corporation Counsel have refused to cite the specific exemption they are claiming, I can only assume that they are relying on 1-210-b-3 which states as follows "(3) Records of law enforcement agencies not otherwise available to the public which records were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of crime, if the disclosure of said records would not be in the public interest because it would result in the disclosure of (A) the identity of informants not otherwise known or the identity of witnesses not otherwise known whose safety would be endangered or who would be subject to threat or intimidation if their identity was made known, (B) signed statements of witnesses, (C) information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action if prejudicial to such action, (D) investigatory techniques not otherwise known to the general public, (E) arrest records of a juvenile, which shall also include any investigatory files, concerning the arrest of such juvenile, compiled for law enforcement purposes, (F) the name and address of the victim of a sexual assault under section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, or injury or risk of injury, or impairing of morals under section 53-21, or of an attempt thereof, or (G) uncorroborated allegations subject to destruction pursuant to section 1-216;".

As anyone reading the statute can clearly see, 1-210-b-3 clearly applies to investigations in which "records were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of crime,". I attempted to make this point in an e-mail to all parties involved, including Mayor Segarra, Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee-Borges and Attorney Hathalie Feola-Guerrieri that was sent on April 27, 2011 . In that e-mail I even cited FOI decisions that would seem to apply to this request. Yet the City, specifically Attorney Feola-Guerrieri seem to ignore the facts as presented

This would appear to be a clear violation of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. All parties involved, with possibly the exception of Detective Wiebusch, have it within their power to comply with this request but have failed to do so even after I attempted to outline my points. Therefore I am also requesting that the maximum civil penalty of $1,000 per occurrence be assessed against all parties involved as the Commission deems appropriate if a violation is found to have occurred. As the Commission is aware, this is not an isolated incident, but rather what appears to be a pattern of practice to deny the public's right to inspect public documents for exemptions that are not based in state statute.

HOMICIDE 13 BEING INVESTIGATED

Hartford's 13th homicide of the year took place last night when a 21 year old man was shot and killed near Enfield and Greenfield Street.

The vehicle he was in stopped at the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Albany Avenue, he was transported to St. Francis Hospital and he was pronounced dead.

IS IT TIME FOR THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AT HPD?

Is there enough going on inside the Hartford Police Department to warrant a visit from the Justice Department investigators?

A couple weeks ago I would have probably said no, but now my blinders are off and I think I would have to answer with an emphatic YES. I think many people, including Chief Roberts, underestimated the fallout from the transfer of Lt. Neville Brooks as the IAD commander.

For the past week I have been receiving phone calls from individuals familiar with incidents that are very disturbing. Allegations of improprieties of everything from missing cash during search warrants, to an alleged drug dealer repeatedly being charged with crimes because the detective making the arrests had a sexual relationship with the drug dealers girlfriend. By arresting the dealer, it freed up the girlfriend to spend uninterrupted time with the detective.

There are many more allegations of a serious nature, but I think you get the point that something is not right here.

Aside from the issues with the HPD Chiefs feeling that they are above scrutiny, it erodes the public's confidence in the process. According to a CHRO complaint filed by LT. Brooks with the State of Connecticut, he claims that Chief Roberts had instructed him that the Chief's had an "exalted status so that the usual protocols did not apply". Are you kidding me? If anything the rules should apply to the Command staff even more, I think it is called "leadership by example".

It is also interesting to me that Chief Roberts would take the time to attend roll calls all weekend long attempting to discredit the blog and call the entries "lies" and "one sided". The information coming out will most likely prove the opposite.

This is the time that Mayor Segarra, who constantly speaks of "transparency", needs to step up and demand a complete and full examination of HPD.

Anyone wishing to document additional information, please feel free to contact me.

To read Lt. Neville Brooks CHRO complaint, click below:
CHRO Complaint Lt Brooks

MORE CORPORATION COUNSEL INSANITY

The previous post should show that common sense is not overflowing in the Corporation Counsel's Office. The appeal filed by the City of Hartford in another matter involving a Hartford firefighter should back that lack of common sense up 100%.

The matter involved bumper stickers on the vehicle of one firefighter, who is Caucasian. Another firefighter, who is African American, objected to the bumper stickers because they depicted President Obama in a negative fashion.

The bottom line, that is what we call political free speech. Because the President is African American, criticizing him is not a racist incident. I can recall numerous bumper stickers portraying George W. Bush in a very negative fashion, but I never heard anyone call them racist.

Eventually this grievance ended up before the Labor Board. The only correction ordered by the Board was that the firefighter whose parking privileges inside the firehouse were revoked should once again be allowed to park inside the firehouse. No damages, no money, nothing monetary.

Yet now the City of Hartford in its infinite wisdom and free for all spending of the taxpayers money, has decided to appeal that decision.

WHY? Is there anyone steering this ship? Obviously not.

And not surprisingly, the wording of the appeal appears to be very similar to the Nolan appeal. Has someone learned how to use "cut and paste" in the Corporation Counsels Office?

Here is the latest motion below.

City of Hartford Appeal-DiGiacomo

CITY MOVES TO APPEAL NOLAN DECISION

If you read the hearing officers report on the Dan Nolan hearings, it seems pretty clear that he found no wrong doing on the part of Deputy Chief Dan Nolan. In fact, many of the witnesses called on behalf of the city, actually seemed as though they were better witnesses for Nolan.

Yet now the City of Hartford is moving to drag the matter out even longer. Sometimes you have to wonder if the Corporation Counsel's attorneys would gamble with their own money the way they do with the taxpayers funds. In a cash strapped City like Hartford, we can hardly afford another huge settlement that comes out of the pockets of the taxpayers.

City of Hartford Motion to Vacate Nolan Decision