WHAT IS BEING DONE TO COMBAT HARTFORD'S CRIME ?

If you read the comments here, and I know that many readers of the blog have an agenda one way or another, there doesn't seem to be a lot of change or increased attention to the fact that we have had 4 homicides in four days and we are rapidly approaching the total number of murders last year when we aren't even halfway through this year.

In case our Mayor and Police Chief don't realize it yet, we have a war going on in the streets of Hartford. A war that will most likely add more casualties this weekend at the rate we have been going.

It will be interesting to see who is out on Hartford's streets this weekend. Will any of the Assistant Chiefs be out at 2 or 3 in the morning to see what is actually going on and provide some leadership to the rank and file bailing water against the tide? If they can find time to start e-mail efforts with community groups to save their jobs, then I would hope they could find time to send a message to our street thugs that we are serious about fighting this trend of murders.

Does anyone on the corner of Albany and Vine even recognize Assistant Chief McKoy? When was the last time our Mayor or Councilpeople hit the streets to try to send a message to the young people of our City who are killing each other.

And where are our "Poverty Pimps"? Are they out working the street corners where these shootings are taking place? I know they make it a point to show up at the vigils and make their quick appearances while the TV cameras are rolling. They make even give a hug or two to victims families while they stand there crying. Then when the cameras disappear, so do they. What are they actually doing to quell the violence.

We pay good money to them and they should also be held accountable for the violence. Obviously what they are doing isn't working and it is time to try new ideas so that we as taxpayers start getting our moneys worth from those that have their hands out for the grant money.

And I am not a big believer in State Police coverage when the going gets tough, That money spent on Troopers coming in would me much better spent given to HPD for additional overtime for officers who already know Hartford's streets and its players. With that being said though, WE NEED HELP !!!!

I know for a fact that no request has been made to the State or the Governor's Office for assistance of any kind. Why not? When people are dying in Hartford's streets with 22 bullet holes in them from gunshots, it is clear that the situation is out of control.

How much overtime has been spent on the Intelligence Division at HPD to track these guns? How much has been spent on overtime for Vice and Narcotics to make a real dent in the drug trade that is fueling the violence. The answer is pretty much none, it is business as usual.

How many Community Service Officers and Conditions Teams are being given overtime to attack the hotspots in their areas. Pretty much none, more business as usual. The only overtime being spent is out of necessity for the Crime Scene Unit and Major Crimes detectives to come back after the murders take place because they have to investigate them.

Reacting to crime is not called leadership, planning ahead, identifying trends and working to prevent these crimes is a sign of leadership. Putting egos aside and asking for help when it is needed is also a sign of leadership. The people of Hartford deserve that, at the very least.

Which do you think affects Hartford's image more, people seeing the Capitol West building or reading daily about Hartford's crime. I would guess that the "4 homicides in 4 days" headlines harm Hartford a lot more than any blighted building ever could. Maybe we should take some of the money that is going to be spent on legal fees for that Capitol West mess and get some cops on the streets to hammer the hot spots and send a strong message or prevention.

In the meantime, the Governor's Office is listed in the phone book, call and ask for some help.

WILLIE EDWARDS LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST MAYOR SEGARRA..."ET AL"

The lawsuit has been filed against Mayor Pedro Segarra and his husband, Charlie Ortiz by Department of Public Works employee Willie Edwards.

The "intent to sue" and the details of the claim were posted here previously, to read that earlier posting, click here.

The summons for the lawsuit is posted below:

Hartford Willie Edwards Lawsuit

AN URGENT PLEA: I NEED YOUR HELP

And before you get started with the comments, no, not that kind of help.

In all seriousness, I received a call this afternoon from Hartford Police Officer Mike Allen. Officer Allen lives in one of the towns in Massachusetts heavily damaged by this weeks tornadoes. He asked if he could use the blog to get a message out and I readily agreed.

Officer Allen's home was not damaged by the tornado, but many of his neighbors homes were. Mike relayed to me that there is an urgent need for cardboard boxes for people to pack the contents of their damaged homes and move the items into storage.

In that spirit I am trying to help him organize a "box drive" for people to drop off cardboard boxes to get to the people that need them. The major issue is a drop off point for people to bring the boxes to somewhere in Hartford.

I have spoke with Shirley Surgeon, also a Hartford resident, who works in the Governor's Office. Shirley is attempting to come up with a drop off point somewhere in Hartford.In the meantime, I am reaching out to my readers to see if anyone has any ideas for a drop off point to get this started quickly.

Time is of the essence as we have some decent weather for the next few days so people can pack items without them being damaged any more. Please e-mail or call me with any ideas. Thanks

ALBANY AVENUE'S OWN CAPITOL WEST BUILDING

The Hartford Police Albany Avenue Substation, pictured above, is a prime example of the negative impact blighted properties have on Hartford's image

I still don't agree, and I probably never will agree, with the City's efforts to spend millions of dollars to take the Capitol West building by emminent domain. The argument that it will spur economic development carries no weight with me and I think it is less than genuine for politicians to use that as an argument for another photo op at campaign time.

Tonight I attended yet another vigil by the Reverend Henry Brown for what would normally be the City's latest homicide victim, Unfortunately now though that they are happening so often, Reverend Brown has a backlog on the vigils.

While I was standing there at the vigil, two things struck me. First off was the question, where were all the people that should be outraged? Outraged that an elderly 74 year old man was shot in the chest and murdered after he was innocently leaving a store after buying a Lipton Ice tea. Murdered by a couple of young thugs upset that they couldn't buy beer. There was maybe 20 or so people that joined Reverend Brown on the corner during his vigil.

Yet three nights before this homicide, on the opposite corner of Albany and Vine, over 200 people congregated after two people were shot in the ankles on Friday night.

I have been to enough of Rev. Brown's vigils to know that the low turnout is usually due to fear. The majority of the people that would attend from the neighborhood have to still live in the neighborhood so I understand their fear.

But as symbolic as our Mayor and other politicians claim that the Capitol West building is to blight and Hartford's image, I kept staring at the abandoned, boarded up Hartford Police substation. What message does that send?

What once was an image of Public Safety and a police presence in one of Hartford's most crime ridden neighborhoods, now seems like another abandoned property left behind similar to many others. Properties left behind by those that seem willing to write the area off. Even those that drive Albany Avenue regularly must question how the City could just walk away and let a symbol of Police presence just become another blighted property.

Another vacant lot would be better than what is there now. And as we all know, Hartford has a proud tradition of creating more vacant lots in the name of economic development.

Could we at least mow the grass? And I think former Councilman McGarry had an ordinance passed that the plywood used to board up an abandoned property should be painted to match the color of the building. That might make it less noticeable to the public that Hartford has abandoned its commitment to Public Safety and Community Policing on Albany Avenue

4TH HOMICIDE IN 4 DAYS, NUMBER 17 IS ON THE BOOKS

Hartford's 17th homicide victim for the year was just pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital. The victim was shot earlier in the evening in the Southend.

That now sets the pace for 4 homicides in four days and really draws into question what is being done to quell the violence. We aren't even into the heat of the summer and we are setting a record pace for homicides so far this year.

I really have to question the cut of $500,000 from the Police Departments overtime budget by the City Council.It seems like all resources should be brought to the table at this point to start controlling the crime "hot spots".

If the Council was really looking to cut expenses to reduce the mill rate the half a mill that they did, there is plenty of waste in other areas.

Eliminating the City's "Energy Czar", Capitol Projects Manager, Parks Operation Manager and an "undefined" position created in the Health Department for a Perez croney, would more than cover the cuts made to the HPD budget for overtime.

I'd much prefer knowing that Police Officers are being put on the streets to control violence rather than continuing to fund the Light Bulb inspector Energy Czar.Over half of the money cut from the HPD overtime budget could be recovered by the cost of salary and benefits and City car paid out for the Capitol Improvements Director, James Keaney.

I guess it is a matter of priorities.

MORE DETAILS ON "UP IN SMOKE"

Although it might be difficult to obtain documents from the City of Hartford, it is totally a different story with the State of Connecticut.

Within minutes of requesting documents from the State of Connecticut regarding the records "destroyed" recently by the Hartford Police Department, I received what I requested via e-mail. The City has not provided any documents regarding the incinerated documents or any details as to specifically what was destroyed.

HPD sources are telling me that payroll records through 2008 were incinerated along with numerous other documents. In the attached request for permission to destroy the documents, the State of Connecticut specifically denied HPD permission to do that. HPD spokesperson Nancy Mulroy could not confirm what documents were destroyed.

In addition, in the request to destroy the records, both Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts and Mayor Pedro Segarra both signed the state's forms certifying that "No records listed, in our opinion, pertain to any pending case, claim or action".

It might be possible that Mayor Segarra had no knowledge of the "impending storm" when he signed off on May 2, 2011, but I'm not sure that the Chief and his staff can say the same.

Considering that one officer is already under arrest for payroll fraud, others might be implicated, an investigation is about to commence tomorrow and who knows where that will lead, it seems somewhat less than truthful that they could certify that "No records listed, in our opinion, pertain to any pending case, claim or action".

And still, the question needs to be asked, why the rush to burn documents that might prove helpful in the outcome of an investigation that is purported to be trying to get to the truth and maintain the "integrity" of HPD. Unless maybe we can't handle the "truth".

And again, the offer still stands that if Chief Roberts or HPD would like to provide the inventory of actual documents destroyed, I will gladly post them here.

Hartford Disposals From 2001

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