MR. MAYOR, JUST SAY "NO"

New York State Police have purchased over 600 of the Chevy Tahoe PPV Police vehicle, aren't they good enough for Hartford? Councilman Kennedy apparently says no.

 

 

I have to wonder if anyone reads or pays attention to Hartford's Charter. It  keeps becoming clearer and clearer that neither the Mayor or the Hartford City Council understand the theory of "checks and balances".

 The Mayor, whether he acts like it or not, is the Chief Executive of the City of Hartford. He is supposed to be responsible for hiring and firing Department Heads. Day to day operations are his responsibility and the Department heads are intended to answer directly to the Mayor.

The Court of Common Council is the legislative arm of the City. They are not intended to micromanage day to day operations of any Department. We hope that the Mayor appoints professional department heads but the Council has no control over that , other than to exercise the power given to them under the Charter to hold a hearing into a Department head they feel is not performing and by a 6 vote majority, they could remove any Department head

Can you imagine any State Representative barking orders to the Commissioner of State Police as to what cars they can order?. No, they approve the budget and let the people you hire as experts do what they have the knowledge to do. They are legislative not executive....checks and balances

No where in the Charter does it give the council the right to define how money they budget is spent or to question the size of engines that the police Chief or the Department deem fit to order in in new cruisers.

The Hartford City Council can not and should not be allowed to dictate the day to day operations of any City Department not Fire, not DPW and definitely not Police, that is why we went to a strong Mayor form of Government, whether Mayor Segarra realizes it or not.

The ordering of new police vehicles is currently caught in a quagmire of bureaucracy created by a Mayor that doesn't know his place and apparently by a Council President that is not willing to put his Council members in their place. I have already spoke with the Council President so I know he will not be happy about my opinion, but none the less, he is in theory the leader of the Council and is responsible for maintaining control and seeing that the business of the people of Hartford is done effectively

Micromanaging the Police Department is neither productive or allowable.

If the Council feels that the operation of the Police Department is not effective, then follow the Charter and conduct hearings and remove the Police Chief. I would be sure to count the votes clearly on that one, because I would bet it wouldn't happen. It is time to knock of the hidden agendas and personality conflicts.

The issue regarding comp time and where it is allocated is purely in the purview of the Chief. He is there everyday and I would hope is well aware of where his coverage is needed. If the Council isn't going to properly fund the needs as the Chief sees fit, comp time is a necessity.

Saturday nights homicide on Union Place is a perfect example. Many of the Officers that staff extra activities such as those around the bars at closing, those keeping order in Keney Park and Colts Park on weekends are there strictly because of comptime. We know what happens when they aren't there, the stabbings and drug use in Keney Park died off real quick when the parks are staffed on weekends by officers on comptime, imagine if no one was keeping order there.

Two items on the Operation Management and Budget  Committee are very troubling to me because it clearly shows that the Council is overstepping its bounds, and no one is reigning them in.  A strong Mayor would clearly know his power and use the checks and balances to set the Council straight. A "strong Mayor" would send a clear message: The Police Chief answers to me, I assign him to run the Department, now back off and do your own job".

The sad part though is that much of Councilman Kennedy's information is inaccurate. As you can see from the video below, the Tahoe PPV's actually have been tested and proven to get better mileage than the previously used Ford Crown Victoria's and there are no Corvette engines in any HPD vehicles. 8cylinders yes, Corvette...no.

Many Departments, including the New York State Police have tested the Tahoe PPV and made the decision to purchase them. The New York State Police have purchased over 600 of the vehicles and I would bet they researched that choice to death before cutting the Purchase Order.

There are professionals that are paid very well to research these choices and act in the best interest of the City. I would like to know how many hours Councilman Kennedy has spent researching the vehicles or how many of GM's tutorial videos he has watched? Has he ever even ridden in the Tahoe PPV? And the Ford Taurus he mentions. You will find that most police departments are learning the hard way that by the time you put the "cage" between the front and back seat and all the equipment in the car, the Chevy is more accommodating , from what I have seen and been told

In the meantime, HPD's fleet of vehicles to be purchased July 1st have not even been ordered yet as the department is short of operating cruisers for patrol. Even more interesting is that the arguments over these cars even exists at all. The cars are not costing the City of Hartford one cent. Yes you read that right, the cars are being purchased through a Capitol  Improvement Grant of  $1.9 million dollars , not a penny of cost to the taxpayers of Hartford through the General Fund.

It seems like a no-brainer to me, cut the red tape, get the Mayor to define the roles and have the Council back off. In the meantime, HPD is being handcuffed by a resolution that has not even been voted on by the Council and doesn't seem to have much support with other Council members

Kennedy Vehicle Resolution

As a  footnote, you can tell a PPV Tahoe over an SSV (4WD) by the rims, the PPV has black steel rims and the SSV has a silver colored steel rim. The PPV also sits lower than an SSV Tahoe and a civilian Tahoe to minimize a roll over in pursuit / code 3 situations. As Councilman Kennedy may not realize, the term "pursuit" applies to all  code 3 lights and siren emergency response, not just "pursuit" as in a car chase . Hartford obviously has code 3 response "pursuit" situations often. A 4WD SUV is not meant for pursuit situations as it is prone to roll over and does not have brakes comparable to the PPV. The PPV Tahoe also comes with "stabilitrack" which is a system GM has put in Tahoe's which helps prevent a roll over if the circumstances exist. The Chevrolet Tahoe is the only full framed pursuit rated SUV on the market. An SSV Tahoe is made for 4WD drive applications, such as off road use, mud, sand, and obviously snow.There is an adequate amount of 4WD vehicles in the HPD FLEET. A truly equipped fleet has both units,as HPD does. This budget year HPD was including two SSV units. Older 4WD patrol expedition supervisor units would be used as spares.