The above comment was apparently made at last nights budget session by Hartford City Councilwoman
Cynthia Jennings and then tweeted by Steve Goode of the Courant.
Now I think most of us realize not to expect too much out of Hartford City Hall when it comes to leadership, but this is a new low when it comes to the Council. The actions of the Council repeatedly show little or no appreciation for HPD, but this is an insult to every good hard working member of HPD and the Dispatch Center .
The big question is why this comment now? This Council has had oversight over the budget for several years and has run the City budget into the ground year after year. Are the deficits suddenly the responsibility of Chief Rovella and HPD. This Council has shared an equal part in the recklessness and over spending for years now.
Not to mention that the "high pay" Jennings' references has all been voted on and approved by Jennings and her colleagues. Neither police officers or EST Dispatchers make up their own salaries, they are set by the collective bargaining agreements approved by the Council.. If they don't like the salaries, have a backbone and vote against them, don't bully the employees at budget time.
I am not sure how many of the Council have actually taken the time to ride with a police officer or sit with a dispatcher on a busy night. I would venture to say very few.
I would challenge Councilwoman Jenninngs to be the first one jumping out of a cruiser on Garden Street and running toward the sound of gunfire from a Tek-9 machine gun being fired in a backyard, or maybe sitting with the overpaid dispatcher taking a call from a parent whose child is choking on a piece of candy and turning blue.
See how low the threshold is as the overpaid dispatcher multitasks to hopefully save a life, entering the call for EMS and Fire to respond quickly, at the same time trying to calm down the parent who may be watching their child dying in their arms and trying to relay life saving instructions to the caller.
I have to disagree with the Councilwoman, the skill set is extrremely high, especially at those times when we as residents need to rely on our Police Officers and Dispatchers.The Councilwoman also needs to do a little more checking on the skill sets and I think she will be surprised by the number of Hartford Police Officers with advanced college degrees, including masters Degrees and Law Degrees.
No matter what the intent of the comments was meant to be, it is not what I expect from someone who should be a leader and the Councilwoman owes an apology to everyone she offended.
43 comments:
Is there anyone on that Council that isn't a cop hater? Kennedy and Jennings are the worse
Council members come and go. But my contract and new improved morale will give me the will to make cabbage then danny and spell ..... Politicians like the council members do not make a difference. The city is a dump. Businesses leaving and even the governor looks ten times better then the caviar mayor and the paper council .
Hope Jennings never needs assistance from 10-2 nor gets a dui within the city limits. Cynthia I hope you stay off your cell phone and wear your seatbelt.
What is there to really say about this comment? It's very straight forward and can't be misconstrued. It's distgusting to say the very least and contradictory in its nature. We have a "low skill set", yet we are entrusted with the safety of other people and essentially given the ability to take a life in the most extreme situations. I'm extremely disappointed that such an ignorant remark could come from such a well educated woman. Ms. Jennings may not be able to escape the public shame and embarrassment this little comment will bring her, however, she can rest easy, because my "low skill set" coworkers and I will still do our job with the utmost honor and integrity and come running if she needs our help.
Consider the source. Not like she'd ever be accused of being intelligent.
Jennings is ignorant. I saw this story on Channel 30 news tonight and she should have taken the oppurtunity to apologize to the police officers and the dispatchers that she offended. There was no need for Chief Rovella to write a letter to try to smooth things over. That was her responsibility. She is absolutely disgusting.
How about never saying it in the first place?
It's not like a high skill set (or obviously ANY) is needed to be on city council.
What else do you expect from a council women that wants to be paid $90,000 a year? She does not get it and never will. She is a disgrace to the leadership of Hartford. She owes more than an apology to the Police Chief and HPD. She should resign because of her harsh, shameful and untrue statements. This is not the way you create jobs for anyone.
Cynthia, your an arrogant, ignorant disgrace. Don't back pedal, you meant what you said. You have no relatives that are police officers. Respect to HPD Union President Rich Holton for standing up, backing his men, and speaking out against Jennings. Chief Rovella, get a spine and back your men, no chief anywhere would stand for this. You try to back her up and justify her......then on the news she blames you for what she said!!!!
The men and women of the rank and file can ASSURE you that WE WILL NOT extend the benefit of doubt to her on this matter and WE WILL NOT join you in ending this misunderstanding here and now!
How about supporting your men and addressing us all in roll call for the first time ever instead of a garbage email?
At least long and buyak come to a roll call every now and then. Many have forgotten that patrol is the backbone of this operation. Some useless city politicians comments dont effect me or what i do. She will be gone next election. Rovella has lost all my respect. At least roberts would do the right thing and not take it like he does. Maybe it is time ... That email to all is spineless and also insulting that our leader( on paper) would attempt to make excuses for this obvious ignorant person. Let them cut the dept budget, see how violent it gets. See how i will take my time to get gas and take my lunch break.
Nice email chief my morale just sank further down why does every detective want to go back to patrol. Hmmmmmmm why is every command staff member leaving quicker then a filled out gtf pink card?
Rovella well advised to take presidents advice. When ignorant people want to advertise their ignorance you don't do anything you just let them talk.
HPD Job Application: Can you lie?
If yes, you are hired.
Not a difficult skill set.
You have to be a resident for a day, so they do have skills, they go on a treasure hunt to find an address. Their lucense doesn't even match, grand oh Hartford at it's best.
I Couldn't agree more.
Elaborate please
Kevin, as you know the Hartford Police does a lot for our city, its residents and businesses. If anything, for what the police have to deal with here on a daily basis, the city doesn't pay them enough money, when you compare salaries to the surrounding suburbs. This clueless councilwoman, just like the rest of the city council is out of touch with reality. Hartford is getting worse under their watch. No leadership, no spine, no problem solving skills. It doesn't take any skill whatsoever to be on the city council. Who will do something about spending, which increases every year. Lowering taxes would be nice. A mill rate near 77 mills is disastrous for generating revenue for the grand list. Bring new businesses, economic development, jobs into the city. Help keep existing businesses from leaving. Stop going after the unions for concessions to fill in budget gaps. Lastly leave the police alone.
The problem with these city council members, and this doesn't only hold true to Hartford but to many other cities as well, they feel they are above the citizens they are working for.
In fact across the nation major cities are debating on whether or not to pay their council member the six figures or more that neighboring cities are paying their council members.
Someone needs to notify Hartford's city council that they don't hold a candle compared to say their peers in Dallas, TX for example. Hartford is a lower class, poor, struggling and shrinking city, the council members need to recognize that they are not on par with those major cities that can not only justify but more importantly afford to pay six figure salaries.
They have a false sense of value and self worth at Hartford City hall. Just one more reason why Hartford will never generate enough forward momentum to propel out of the rut they've been in for the last half century.
The council's grotesk and disingenuous thought to each be valued at 90k a pop is more criminal then the X L center grocery store 500k defunct loan. Yes. Never repaid. Jennings has some nerve, the last commentor hit the nail on the head. Hartford is not comparable to boston or new york. Hartford is sinking fast. A 9-5 city. No gas stations downtown, no family friendly eaterys either. Who wants to go to hartford to see art when u can jump on a train to new york. Hartford is not attractive for business. The city is violent. ( Albany ave looks really safe at 7 pm. )
If the city required a college edu. for position of police or fire, wouldn't that impel someone who really wants the job to go to college? Raise the bar. Before we know it all exams will be in crayon.
Councilwomen Jennings can give it in chalk, that way she can erase her ignorance when she opens her mouth.
Let's keep it real here. The only reason the city of Hartford only requires a high school diploma to become a Hartford Police Officer, is so Hartford residents can apply. If a college degree was required, the 16% of Hartford Officers being city residents that Cynthia speaks about, would be more like 1%. Check and see how many of those city residents were hired with more than a high school diploma. The out of town residents come with a college degree.....like what I say or not, it's this truth. Other towns require a college degree, because they don't care about hiring city residents, they want the best for their community. Look at what a mess DPW is from hiring city residents....lol, they can't even clear snow from the streets!!!
I would not recommend using a "residency requirement". HFD has one, only city residents can get on the job. Look at all of the problems that they have had over the last few years.
-Caldwell...drinking, relieving himself in stairwells, etc.
-Lt from E-16...stealing electricity and threatening and beating a woman.
-New recruit a few years ago...runs a woman over at Main X Westland St.
-FF from E-8...dealing major amounts of drugs from a firehouse.
These are only a few examples. Are these the type of people that you want to hand a gun and keys to a police cruiser to?
Before everyone calls me a racist, there are plenty of decent residents of Hartford on HFD that do a great job. Hartford has proven that they do not properly background check individuals before hiring them. This happens from the mayors office down to the lowest job in Hartford. PD is not the place to cut corners and hire only residents.
Once again, give a fair test, and hire the highest scoring, best qualified people regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or RESIDENCY!
Imagine how nice Hartford could be if they only hired top quality employees! Never going to happen though, residency keeps bringing Hartford closer to circling the toilet bowl.
Anonymous 1:57 do you truly believe you don't have a race issue? Make your self usefull and report the cases of the Caucasians from the suburbs who have had, let's say issues. You can start with the officers who used the N word on open air, continuing with comments of what he thinks of Hartford Residents. He had no problem getting paid from Hartford Residents that week or contributing to a pension and bennies from them!
Your town may not have a residency requirement but trust and believe they have a mechanism in place to keep most of Hartford out. Racial profiling is probably your way of assesing residency and toilet bowls.
This mess with Councilwoman Jenning should be addressed by the taxpayers. She got elected by the Working Families Party. They really are Democrats. Jennings sits as the only woman on the Court of Common Council. It seems that her remarks are always the same. I do not feel that she represents anyone. However, with her fancy clothing and words maybe she thinks she is better than most who reside in Hartford. Ms Jennings needs to watch what she says especially when she dose not know what she is talking about. The HPD are Hartford's Finest!! End of conversation....
I agree. Ms Jennings should get her facts straight before she rants. She should leave Hartford employment alone until she knows what she is talking about.
The City has to stop this rule of hiring only City residents, I worked and retired from the City, and even employees are saying the same thing, give people a chance that live outside the City, this requests has been going on for years, there are so many qualified people who apply for jobs for the City, they even pass the tests, and if drug tests where given, they would pass that too, there are so many that need jobs and grateful to be hired by the City, but the City turns them down cause of the resident requirement, so I can't feel sorry for the City, "you get what you hire cause they don't pass the tests, and because they are residents, that is not fair, I knew a guy once that worked for the City, wanted to apply for the Fire Dept. but because he lived outside the City, they would not hire him, well guess what..he has been working for the West Hartford Fire Dept. and they lucked out with him...this has happened so many times with applicants for both Fire and Police, they want so much to work for Hartford, but get turned down, so they have no other choice but to go to another town or City, cause Hartford rather hire from the bottom of the bag.
The same thing happened to me, I applied to HPD, went through the entire painstaking hiring process for over 2 years, the majority of it was waiting months between each step in the process while being kept in the dark until a few days prior to being called in for an appointment. This is easy to look past if you actually get hired, but if ones gets to the final step just days before the academy class starts and don't ever receive a call to come in for the cheif's interview it has a tendency to make one bitter.
What's more is not less then a couple months into the academy class, still no answer as to why I wasn't called in for the final step, I find out that a few recruits were actually kicked out of the academy for low scores.... That's BAD GRADES! essentially they flunked out, and they were dim-wits picked for a spot in the academy over me. I'm absolutely sure I wasn't the only one this happened too.
It's absurd to say the least.
So now I'm going to apply elsewhere and help make an already better city than Hartford even better.
What no drug testing for HPD? Every place of job employment has drug testing. Get you act together HPD you are the head of public safety.
Drugs are the biggest problem in our nation.
Mr Mayor Pedro wake up city employees need to have drug testing. No wonder why there is so much violence in Hartford. A real attraction to raise a family.And you keep saying that Hartford is getting better. What planet do you live on?
If the city drug tested. Most of public works would fail. A good third of the police and fire also would fail. Just for starters, it would be nearly impossible to deal with that many fails at once so why even bother. My cousin worked at mohegan sun casino as a dealer. They tested once and half the matinance worked tested hot. Like 60. So that never happened again. True story. So it would be actually better for the city not to test.
When u go lurking into the graveyard at night many skeletons will be found .....
Kevin, The last time I held an application in my hand I saw at the very top "AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER" !!! How do they LEGALLY get away with RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS AT TIME OF APPLICATION????? Kevin, does that sound fair???? Dont forget these "OUTSIDERS" pay STATE AND FEDERAL TAXES that both ,in part, feed the city. So why shouldnt these "OUTSIDERS" be eligible to work in the same city they have been FORCED to invest in????? I know from your past comments you dont buy into this but I believe that you must be having some doubt as time goes on!!!
Talk about lying, like most politicians, Cynthia Jennings is the liar here. She tried to justify her comment by saying during her interview that she has "many" relatives in law enforcement. If so where and related how? Kevin, can you verify this or it just another lie. She really should step down, she's a disgrace. She really thinks she's worth $90,000 a year with a city car?!?!?! Just goes to show how far from reality she really is.
Talk about lying, like most politicians, Cynthia Jennings is the liar here. She tried to justify her comment by saying during her interview that she has "many" relatives in law enforcement. If so where and related how? Kevin, can you verify this or it just another lie. She really should step down, she's a disgrace. She really thinks she's worth $90,000 a year with a city car?!?!?! Just goes to show how far from reality she really is.
Mr brookman why won't you post my comment about drug testing in DPW? This is the third cimment I tried to post. I guess yoy are like the rest, your view only. My post was true and let's people know what time it is, but i guess we can't get a point in with yoy eithet. Signing off your blog and spreading the word.
Look into it Ms. jennings father was a long time law enforcer. You proabably won't respond or post that she is telling the truth! Perhaps you should become a Politician, they sway the story to make thier point of view.
That doesn't cut it. Sleaze Bag Jennings said "many" relatives. One person isn't many in my book.
To Anonymous at 4:47pm,
So exactly who was Ms. Jennings father? You are being very cryptic here. Was he on HPD? What is Ms. Jennings fathers story? YOU probably won't respond.
Surprised Jennings didnt drop the race card yet at the media for attacking her on her comment. had it been the other way around i wonder the outcome
In fairness, I just want to state that the obituary for Cynthia Jennings father does list him as a retired LT. with the Connecticut State Police
Her statement then was disrespectful of her father and his memory.I wonder what he would say to her about this if he were still alive?
I'm a Hartford resident and employee. I'm a bit confused by some of the posts on this blog. The majority of my co-workers and I'd even go as far to say 80%, are from out of town. Some travel as far as an hour away. And from what I gather, most were NEVER Hartford residents at hire. So, when you guys speak of incompetencies in the departments, and insinuate that those inefficiencies are due to said incompetencies of Hartford residents, well, quite frankly, you are speaking out of your *&@!#. I'll be glad when this blog turns into a think tank and start talking about how some of you can use your connections to get some developers in here!!!
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