LOW "T" AT HPD

Anyone that reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I take ownership of what I say here, the good the bad and the ugly. In most cases , I attempt to contact most of the subjects  of my postings to give them an opportunity to present their side. They don't always return my calls, but I try. If I can't say something to your face, I am not going to gossip behind your back.

Apparently that isn't the way several at the Hartford Police Department conduct themselves. A campaign is underway by a select few to discredit me and the blog, I am not sure why , since I doubt that most Hartford Police officers enjoy being compared to Eric Smith, Latoya Guthrie  or Tishay Johnson. At least I hope they don't.

Almost every day now I get a new call about the latest volley being lobbed in the "kill the messenger campaign" being waged by a Deputy Chief, a couple of Sergeants and a Police Union Vice President. The other interesting part is the witch hunt to try to find out who is reporting their comments back to me. The answer is simple, people of integrity who don't appreciate their cowardly acts,

Yes, cowardly. My phone number is posted here on the blog and not one of these cowards has had the integrity to call me and say they have a problem with the blog or anything I post. The interesting part is that they knew how to get a hold of me when they wanted to have something posted and supplying me with documents. I guess it served their needs back then.

The Deputy Chief sent a letter to the Hartford Courant complaining about the blog and that I post "confidential" Police Information . To set the record straight, I have never posted "confidential information"  I will admit to posting "PUBLIC Information" Just about every HPD document I post is obtained pursuant to a legitimate FOI request and can be gathered by anyone asking for them. They might not be flattering to HPD but they are public documents. Don't commit the acts if you are embarrassed by them becoming public knowledge.

On several occasions, I have been asked to hold off on posting things so as not to jeopardize open cases. I don't have a problem with that. As an example, the IAD into the shell casings being kicked into the sewer was one I held off on so as not to jeopardize a criminal investigation. There have been numerous   times I have been asked to hold off for a few days posting a story , I readily agreed, without even knowing why, but I have the discretion to do that.

The Union Vice-President apparently told his members at the Union Meeting last night that they (the Union) were working to shut the blog down. Good luck with that, you have about as much of a shot of doing that as I do in shutting down the Union or bringing back flagmen at Construction sites.

And back to the Deputy Chief's letter to the Editor, good luck with that one. I think the Courant most likely appreciates the US Constitution and the First Amendment. In case you forgot, that is the one that addresses Freedom of Speech, the one that gives me the privilege to write this blog and post the truthful information I post. As well as the same right that commenter's have to post their comments here.

I understand part of the D/C's anger I think. The actions of a City Councilman put a cloud over the D/C's promotion when the Councilman made it a point to tell everyone that would listen that he "cut a deal" with Chief Rovella to make the promotion happen. I doubt that is true since I don't see Chief  Rovella as cutting deals with anyone. The real truth probably is that the new D/C was at the top of the list because of his qualifications and training well before the Councilman ever got involved.

I think the D/C's gripe is with the Councilman and his bragging for putting the cloud over him, not me.

The Major Crimes Sergeant who has been vowing to everyone that he is "taking me down apparently is not happy because of a couple postings that pointed out his incompetence on a couple of crime scenes, one being a kidnapping and homicide in the Southend where he never even left his office or assigned detectives to Investigate until the media started questioning why no one had interviewed witnesses or secured the crime scene.. The witchhunt to find out my source was more important than finding the victims killer.  ok, i can understand why he is upset, no one wants their incompetence highlighted

 

I couldn't figure out the tirade by the Patrol Sergeant until someone reminded me about a conversation I had with him one night down by the riverfront when I brought up a fight he had at a Comacast Concert  where he was beaten up and scratched by a girl from Fairfield  County. Let me take the opportunity to apologize for that one now. I didn't think your wife was listening and I didn't know. she was going to get upset.

I also post many positive things about our Police Department. I took a lot of heat last year for posting the successes of the Shooting Task Force. apparently Patrol Officers and others felt ignored by that. But , people that know what integrity and how to act like men (and women) had the guts to call me or stop me at Stop and Shop or Walmart to let me know how they felt. That is what adults do.

No one benefits from back stabbing and gossip and I would hope that a Deputy Chief and others would learn how to conduct themselves in a way that fosters better community relations and moves Chief Rovella's philosophy of transparency along, not undermine it

I think to anyone who looks at this realistically, I have done more than my share to support HPD and yes, bring about change. If that change means exposing  bad  cops, I don't apologize for that. And I have thick skin so bring it on, the good and honest members of HPD know what is up.

In the meantime, if any of you decide to act like adults , my number is 860-883-2297. We may not agree, but at least you can make your point