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Saturday, October 13, 2012

HARTFORD'S FINEST ?

This has been a tough posting to put together, and as you read on you will understand why, I hope. I usually attempt to be fair and get both sides of a story before I post, but in this case some of the story has been destroyed as the result of Massachusetts State law and the subject has not spoken to me, even though I have tried to reach out to him to see if there is a logical explanation. The documents I have obtained paint a very negative picture, but I tried to keep an open mind on this one and when I contacted a source at HPD to find out what the story was I was asked "to be fair".I have spent a lot of time contemplating how to handle this, since depending on the outcome the subject could essentially see his career end.

Ok, so here goes.Recently the Hartford police Academy graduated a class of recruits. Among those recruits, now a probationary Police Officers is Luis Feliciano.On June 9, 2006 Feliciano was arrested in Springfield Massachusetts for Murder. Feliciano's arrest was made based upon a security guards identification of him. The Security Guard apparently knew Feliciano from a previous encounter and led Springfield Police to his apartment. The security guard told Springfield Police that she saw individuals previously known to her fighting and then flee into an apartment. The security guard escorted police to Apartment 405, Officer Feliciano's apartment.

 When Springfield Police knocked on the door, Feliciano answered and the officer noticed one other male in the apartment. Feliciano and the other male fit the description provided by the security guard. Once Feliciano and the other male were placed in custody, a stand up field identification was done and the security guard identified Feliciano and the other male as having been involved in the fight earlier that resulted in the stabbing death of the victim. Feliciano and the other male were placed under arrest and the case was turned over to Springfield's Homicide unit. Eventually the charges against Feliciano were nolled by the Hampshire County District Attorney, which meant that they decided not to prosecute Feliciano for the murder.

Sources have told me that it appears that Feliciano was apparently at the fight where the stabbing occurred but on June 30, 2006 another individual Jose Rivera, was indicted for the actual murder and was subsequently sentenced to 5-7 years in prison. As a result of the nolle, all murder charges against Feliciano were dismissed and the records were destroyed. Except for an interesting twist, there probably would be no record available now. After the charges against Feliciano were dismissed, he applied to the Springfield Police Department to be hired as a Police Officer. Since several officers who actually responded to and investigated the homicide were still employed by Springfield, they had first hand knowledge of Feliciano and the murder.

 Once his background investigation was started, red flags were raised by the officers.Feliciano was rejected as a potential police officer for the City of Springfield. Even though the records of the case were legally destroyed, essentially clearing Feliciano's record, the City refused to hire him. That on its face value makes Feliciano sound like a victim of police officers with long memories.

Massachusetts has a Civil Service Commission which is the agency you complain to if you feel you are being treated wrong in hiring practices by a Massachusetts municipality. And here is the interesting twist. By going to the Commission, Feliciano essentially put all the facts that were destroyed as a result of the nolle back on the record as sworn testimony before the commission and part of the public record. The facts of the case are pretty basic as outlined above, except for a couple of disturbing details that might not be the best qualities for a Hartford Police Officer.

According to the Commissions decision, the Springfield Police applied for a search warrant to search Feliciano's apartment subsequent to his arrest on the murder charge According to the decision, during a search of Feliciano's apartment at 1607 Main Street, Apt 405 police officers found a clear plastic bag containing a scale, a box of plastic bags and two clear plastic bags which contained a white powdery substance and chunks of an off white substance. the report further stated "this is consistent how cocaine is packaged and stored for future sale in the City of Springfield As part of the report , officers requested an additional charge of Trafficking in Class B Cocaine.

 It appears that for some reason those charges "fell through the cracks" and no charges were ever filed against Feliciano Also troubling is that the hearing Officer found Feliciano to be less than truthful in his testimony before the Commission. Feliciano testified that Apartment 405 was not his, even though evidence of a signed lease in Feliciano's name was entered as evidence as well as his personal mail that was sent to apartment 405. The hearing officer actually wrote in his decision that Feliciano's "failure to offer truthful, forthright testimony from the outset on this issue undercut his credibility and therefore I do not credit his testimony in regards to the events that occurred on June 9 2006.

What is a Hartford Police officer if not credible and forthright. The background investigation by the Hartford Police apparently relied on a letter from The Massachusetts's District Attorney regarding the nolle for Feliciano.The Commissions decision was not released until September 20, 2012, after Feliciano graduated from the Academy.

There is no evidence or documentation at this time as to how far the investigator pursued the details of the case. On Friday October 5, 2012 Hartford Police Chief James Rovella essentially disbanded HPD's Background Unit. Backgrounds will now be conducted by Investigators from the Internal Affairs Division. When asked about the Investigation, Chief Rovella told me that he has requested a full Investigation of the facts by Lt. Rob Davis and the Internal Affairs Division. At the conclusion of that investigation, Chief Rovella says that appropriate action will be taken if necessary. The full report by the Civil Service Commission is below.

 
And as I mentioned in the beginning, attempts to get Officer Feliciano's version of the events were unsuccessful
> Feliciano Luis 092012[1]

Friday, October 12, 2012

THE CLOCK IS TICKING

This posting is going to be cryptic to many, but I am trying to contact an individual that will most likely be the subject of a posting this weekend. Many people have called me upset by a situation that has been uncovered at HPD. I am trying to be fair because I realize that there are two sides to every story and quite honestly , how this situation got to this point is confusing me. I have no way of contacting the subject of the upcoming posting, although I know that overtures have been made to the person asking that they contact me. Again, I am trying to be fair and patient, but I will be posting the full story and related documents tomorrow whether I hear the other side of the story or not. Again, this probably makes no sense to most readers, but a few will know exactly my intent.

FINALLY...

The Murphy campaign may actually be listening to what the average person is saying. Enough of the nasty, and in manty cases, false ads being used by his opponent to discredit him. Who in this day and age, considering the economy, hasn't missed a mortgage or car payment or been late in paying bills. Except for the millionaires amongst us attempting to buy Senate seats, I think everyone is feeling the pain to a certain degree. Maybe the McMahon's have had to cut back on fuel for their private jet.

I was pleasantly surprised by the latest Murphy television ad that doesn't even mention Linda McMahon, doesn't sling any allegations but instead highlights the jobs Chris Murphy has helped create  and the positive things he has done.

I hope that Murphy is listening to his constituents and will rise above the fray and forget the nastiness of his opponent and instead continue to let people see the real Chris Murphy. And yes, I am supporting Murphy for Senate and I approve this message.

Here is the latest ad below.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

McMAHON; "CHRIS, I AM A WOMAN"

If you aren't into the political races, you may want to skip over this, but a lot is riding on the upcoming United States Senate race. We will most likely be electing a Senator to possibly represent some of us for the rest of our lives.

At the risk of making this sound like a Murphy for Senate blog, I feel obligated to put out information I receive so that people can see what they are getting before they elect a person. Is Chris Murphy perfect ? No, very few politicians I can think of are. Has he run a great campaign? Unfortunately the answer to that is no also.

With that being said though I think Chris is far less flawed than his opponent, Linda McMahon who is on her self funded quest to purchase her very own Senate seat.

In reminding Chis Murphy that she "is a woman" in her recent multi million dollar advertising blitz, I can only guess that was to convince women that she is not as bad as many of them thought she was a mere two years ago. Another woman will always have their backs, she would never do anything to degrade them or objectify them and I am sure she wants voters to believe that she would do everything in her power to help them.

Well as CEO of the WWE, Linda had that power yet still chose to sell women out to increase the bottom line. She even allowed her husband to force a woman to her knees in the ring and order her to bark like a dog. Linda can sing the song R-E-S-P-E-C-T all she wants, but actions speak louder than words, take the ten minutes or so to view the video below and see if women are actually treated as respected human beings as Linda wants us to believe. As bad as McMahon wants us to believe Murphy is, I doubt you will find him treating anyone like this.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

THEY'RE BAAAAAAACK

It seems as though the Occupy Hartford movement people are back to celebrate their one year anniversary and test the will of City Hall. Occupy Hartford protesters are once again setting up camp at the corner of Farmington and Broad Street after the City of Hartford had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to evict them and conduct an environmental cleanup of the property last year.

The protesters arrived late this afternoon and immediately went about defacing the City of Hartford "No trespassing" signs , instead marking them as "Free Speech Zone "signs. The group of 50 or so protesters left upon the arrival of Hartford Police Officers, only to return after darkness to set up their illegal encampment once again.

At least this year David Panagore won't be around to welcome the squatters with coffee and donuts courtesy of City Hall as he did last time. Hopefully City Hall will take quick and decisive action this time to avoid the expenditures of large amounts of money for police services and cleanup, funds that the City and its taxpayers can hardly afford, regardless of the message that is being sent,

A WWE QUALITY PERFORMANCE

Linda McMahon's Corporate jet with the WWE logo on the tail "How has the economy affected you?" No wonder she wouldn't answer the question
 
 
Let me start this posting with the obligatory disclaimer before commenter's start bashing me, I am supporting Chris Murphy for US Senate because I think he is the right person at this time. "I am Kevin Brookman and I approve this message".

I have always had a hard time understanding why people would throw down money for tickets or sit in front of a television watching the WWE. The performances were clearly phony and staged and seemed to be difficult for anyone to believe it was the real deal.

Today Linda McMahon apparently tried to use a page from the WWE playbook as she continued her quest to buy a United States Senate seat. Her performance today was almost as unbelievable as her wrestlers getting whacked with folding chairs left at the edge of the ring.

I think her lack of knowledge of what the average person faces in the State she hopes to represent was obvious. Her evasion of the question how the downturn in the economy has affected her was almost laughable if it weren't for keeping in mind the end result if voters choose to fall for her                 grandmotherly facade. A facade that has been created by some of the best marketing teams money can buy

Do you remember a mere two years ago  when many female voters detested Linda McMahon for what she stood for? And now here we are , two years and probably $15  or $20 million dollars  later and every day I expect the announcement that Linda McMahon is being cast for Disney's remake of Snow White.

The facts seem as though they are going to start catching up with McMahon more over the course of the next three debates. One person today asked me if I think she will participate in the remaining debates. Who knows. but she better hire some new coaches, because bashing Murphy is going to become real tiring to those that watch. I think the hypocrisy of Linda is also going to start showing through more and more.

Can you really beat Murphy up on financial issues when you yourself have filed for bankruptcy and screwed people out of more than Chris Murphy probably has made in his last ten years of public service. Can you really beat Murphy up on his voting record in Congress when Linda herself didn't take the time to vote in the majority of the local elections over the last twenty years in her hometown?

And the plagiarism allegations that she chastised Murphy for regarding her "jobs plan". The Huffington Post is reporting that only after a reporter called looking into the plagiarism allegations did the McMahon "jobs plan " finally get the cites acknowledging the quotes Linda apparently grabbed and claimed as her own. You can read that report here.

And how do you look in the mirror and criticize Murphy and run attack ads regarding his mortgage payment lapses when you yourself probably have a much larger balance in your checking account than the Murphy's and you still can't pay your bills on time? More on that from the Hartford Courant here

And for those that were paying attention the the television debate, it comes down to body language. Watch Linda's eye movements and body language and that will tell you all you need to know about here. As they say, the eyes are the window to the soul and someone that can't maintain eye contact and is constantly blinking to break eye contact, may just not be telling the truth.. Linda's eyelids were fluttering faster than a hummingbirds wings toward the end. That tells you all you need to know about Linda and her phony performance.

If nothing else "America's law" on domestic partnerships should explain why Linda is not the right choice to represent us.(if you didn't actually see the debate, McMahon thought that marriage equality was a national law) We need someone who understands the issues and is not just buying their way to Washington. Chris Murphy demonstrated that knowledge today and it was from the heart, and not from a backroom full of handlers that forgot to prep Linda on Gay marriage.