HPD SERGEANT REASSIGNED OVER ALLEGED RACIAL COMMENTS

This is one of those postings that needs to go into the "Really? What were you thinking?" file.

A Hartford police department Sergeant, Stephen Kessler, who had recently been assigned to the North District as the Administrative Sergeant supervising Community Service Officers and interacting with Community members and organizations, has been removed from that position and reassigned to the booking area at Headquarters.

The reassignment took place after comments came to light that Kessler had apparently made over a recorded radio channel. Kessler apparently referred to loiterers on Barbour Street as looking like "Gorilla's in the mist" on HPD's Tactical Radio Channel,  according to several police sources. Additional allegations into specific comments allegedly made by Kessler referring to African-Americans are also being investigated by the HPD Internal Affair's Division. Officers that may have been present when the comments were made are being interviewed.

Chief James Rovella immediately initiated an internal investigation when the claims were brought to his attention and Kessler was removed from his position as of Wednesday.

Sources also informed me that the Hartford Guardians, a fraternal police organization inside HPD , were planning a special executive committee meeting to address the issue and possibly call for an investigation by an outside agency into the matter..

HPD INVESTIGATING SEXUAL ASSAULT OF WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT

Hartford Police spokesperson Lt Brian Foley has confirmed that the Departments Special Investigations Division (SID) is investigating the reported sexual assault of a West Middle School student.

The assault of the male student is reported to have occurred on or near the grounds of the Asylum Avenue School. The assault was also apparently recorded on video by the perpetrators. HPD is apparently also in possession of that video.

The investigation is ongoing at this time

IS HARTFORD REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT CRIME?

Word is that as the Hartford City Council tries to deliver its budget package, they may be considering up to a three million dollar cut to the Hartford Police Department budget.

At last Monday nights homicide scene on Blue Hills Avenue, I spoke with Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings and she asked me what it was going to take to stop these senseless killings. My answer was simple, properly fund the police Department to be able to do the work that needs to be done.

The problem is that most Concilmembers don't really understand what policing a City like Hartford really entails. Sure they go out for a few hours to ride around, but they get the VIP tour where the reality is the furthest thing from what is actually happening.

They have the misunderstanding that pensions are driven by overtime. They aren't. Pensions are driven by "PJ's" , private duty jobs that are essentially the money officers make working at construction sites, concerts, XL center events and so on. Those used to be very lucrative in determining pension payouts, but as of the latest HPD Union Contract they play a much smaller role in the calculation.

I also explained to Councilwoman Jennings that the thugs on our streets have as good, if not better , intelligence networks when it comes to policing Hartford. They know that the shooting task force is probably half of what it was at this time last year. I'm not giving away any secret information here, it is a reality. Remember this time last year , it seemed as though the Task Force was in the news almost every day for gun seizures and arrests. They just don't have the bodies out there that they had last year.

And keep in mind that Mayor Caviar and his reckless financial spending have made it almost impossible for anyone on the state level to take us seriously if we ask for financial help for police spending or additional resources.

I had a conversation with Mayor Segarra several months ago and I told him he needed to keep in mind that the reduction in violent crime he loves talking about didn't happen by luck. It came about as a result of manpower and dollars directed at a serious problem. It didn't happen by luck.

It just seems odd that we can keep taxing the resources of the police department budget and still consider cutting even more. A special events budget that is basically money just thrown out the window. We keep allowing events that haven't even paid their bills for the previous year, some of them such as the West Indian Day parade that cost upwards of $55,000 for a one day event. How much of that could be used for coverage of "hot spot" areas that drive Hartford's crime.

The Council gave away a half a million dollar's in a land deal to benefit SAMA, a half a million dollars that probably would have been better allocated to the Police Department budget. But then again, SAMA delivers votes to our politicians, HPD doesn't.

The annual rent for the Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park is now paid to the Friends of Elizabeth  Park rahter than to the City of Hartford to be used as revenue to fund things like the Police Department budget. But then again the Mayor's partner is on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Elizabeth Park, not HPD, so clearly the Friends need to be properly funded.

Hartford needs to reassess its priorities and pay attention to what really matters, and there can be no greater priority than providing a safe city and a realistic approach to crime.

Cut the dollars for all City take home cars, eliminate travel and frivolous expenditures collect the revenue the City is entitled to, essentially pay attention to business and run this City like a business, not a free for all Charity operation.

Under Cheif Rovella, it seems pretty clear that he is squeezing every budget dollar for maximum impact, realigning positions to be able to use officers for the maximum benefit to HPD and just being very budget conscious. Yes , a novel idea for a Department Head to actually pay attention to his budget, but any further cuts would be crippling.

To Councilwoman Jennings and the rest of the Hartford City Council , the first step in answering how do we stop the senseless violence, the answer is no more cuts to HPD.

THIS MUST BE A JOKE

I just finished reading the latest post on Courant.com's Cityline. I think it has to be a joke by Councilman Ken Kennedy. It has to be a joke because no one could possibly take his comments seriously.

Check out the posting here

Kennedy's allegiances to the Abe Giles family are no secret.The Democratic Registrar,Olga Iris Vazquez is the daughter in-law of the late Abe Giles

Kennedy is definitely out of touch if he can honestly say".“She’s the one who does the most work,” Kennedy said.

The fact of the matter is that Vazquez has cot the City tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees for poor decision making and violations of State law that landed the City of Hartford in Court on several occasions. She has also proven herself to be one of the most incompetent Department heads in Hartford City Hall, and that is saying a lot when you consider the operations of City Hall. The Registars Office has shown itself to be unable to operate within its allotted budget and has had to go back to the Council for additional appropriations to cover their overspending.

Kennedy's attempt to protect the last bastion of Democratic patronage in City Hall I guess should be expected, but as an attorney he should think this out a little more. The Republican Registrar position is required by State statute and the Working Family Registrar obtained her position through a loophole in State law. None the lesss, they are both legally filled and to attempt to protect one party at the detriment of others is discriminatory and would surely put the City in a courtroom defending Kennedy's actions.

In addition, I think Councilman Kennedy might want to reconsider his quote"“She’s the one who does the most work,”. I think if Mr. Kennedy actually looked at the number of new registered voters, he would find that the Working Families Registrar Urania Petit is leading the pack when it comes to outreach and registration. Petit routinely runs training classes for immigrants attempting to become US Citizens and getting them to be able to register as voters.

Kennedy's recommendations are poorly thought out and probably not even legal. The registrars Office has been a financial black hole when it comes to the City budget and needs some revamping, especially the salaries paid for the three  deputy registrars, not to mention the salaries for "consultants" that are doled out every year at primary time and election time.

Make the cuts that truly will benefit the taxpayers and not those that will get us sued in Court