CONNECTICUT'S POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY BILL DRAFT

I have received numerous calls about the proposed Police Accountability Law  for Connecticut's Police Officers. The link to the bill on CT.GOV has been disabled so I am posting a PDF of the draft here.

 I haven't read the entire bill yet, so I will reserve my comments until I can digest it. Feel free to comment below

Police -- Draft Legislation 7-9-2020  on Scribd

WHERE IS THE THODY ACCIDENT REPORT?

"Now what?"

 I think anyone who has ever had to put a claim through for repairs after an auto accident knows that the first thing  any insurance company will ask for is the Police Report and case number.

So where is the accident report for the recent crash and repairs to the City of Hartford's 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe assigned to Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody.

So where is Thody's accident report, commonly called a PR-1 by Police.

The short and concise answer from the Connecticut State Police in their e-mail below was received pursuant to my request for a copy of the CSP accident report, it doesn't exist.

From the e-mail: "Please understand that there was no investigation into a motor vehicle collision because an accident was not reported to the State Police; therefore  there is no report that we are able to provide you"

Let me ask a hypothetical question here, since CSP said there is no report and we know according to the Hartford COO Thea Montanez that the insurance Company paid a claim for over $3300.00 what documentation was submitted to validate the accident or is there a possibility that a phony report was submitted as part of a wider coverup?

Montanez  and Thody had initially claimed that the damage was under $1,000.00 so no report was required. So in my best Maury Povich voice I have to say "That was a lie". Damage exceeded $3300.00

These questions need to be answered, and answered truthfully for a change.

Lets start with the phone records verifying Thody's call to Montanez immediately after the crash as he claims and lets see the insurance documentation .

Csp Foi Email  on Scribd

WHITE PRIVILEGE ALIVE AND WELL AT HPD

HPD CHIEF JASON THODY

"Is there really a recording?"

I need to start off with an apology. I have been naive. I had hoped that in this day and age something as disgusting as white privilege didn't really exist. I had hoped it was just another part of the "political" buzz words to get people riled up and enflame unrest.

After watching the special treatment Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody has received after his evading crash, I have to say white privilige is alive and well, especially at HPD and the Middlesex County States Attorney's Office. Or maybe it is just another example of the "thin blue line" Either way it is troubling that we are not all equal under the law.

I really don't like to make things racial, but how can you not when you see the special treatment Thody has received. Do you think any African American male from Hartford's  Northend could escape an evading accident without any charges, as Thody has done? A well documented accident , called in by an apparently impartial motorist and documented by a Lieutenant Colonel from the Connecticut State Police.

Look back and follow the story of Lieutenant Paul West in my archives. LT West is an African American supervisor in the Hartford Police Department who has suffered the wrath of HPD and Jason Thody after West was accused of mishandling the Kelly Baerga incident.  Much of that wrath was based upon what could be called "miscommunication" in some of West's reports and memos about the incident. Is Jason Thody the only one who has the benefit of being able to "misspeak" and West has no such benefit?

Mind you, the documentation of Thody's escapades  was only done after the initial coverup was discovered by me and relayed to the Connecticut State Police to try to verify the facts in the original falsified Bowsza report to try to see if Thody's version was truthful. Thody, according to Bowsza'a report , had claimed that he had called the Connecticut State Police immediately after the crash to report it and that CSP declined to respond or issue a case number to him That turned out to not be truthful and subsequently another report came out claiming that Bowsza had "misunderstood" Thody.

Thody never reported the accident to CSP, as any motorist is required to do under Connecticut State Law. I think in the end we will see documentation to verify if any of Thody's statements are true. I'm betting not.

How many of us could get away with that type of behavior? Probably not many, unless you were a caucasian Police Chief. And what drove the decision of the Middlesex County States Attorney Michael Gailor to get the Connecticut State Police to back off on Thody. I guess that old adage that "Justice is Blind" must not apply to powerful white men like Thody I think lady Justice in this case is more deaf than blind and isn't aware of the public outcry for greater Police transparency and accountability. Skin color and power, two great qualities to possess if you want to skirt the law.

THEY KEEP ADDING UP, ANOTHER HOMICIDE

FROM HPD

On Monday July 06, 2020 at approximately 1415 hours, West Hartford Police responded to the area of Capitol Avenue and Prospect Avenue on a car accident. Officers quickly determined that at least two of the occupants of the vehicle had sustained gunshot wounds. The two gunshot victims were transported to area hospitals for treatment. The operator of the vehicle later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at 1606 hours. The second victim was listed in stable condition. It was later determined that the incident began in the area of 1034 Capitol Avenue and a crime scene was located and secured by responding patrol officers. The Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions responded and assumed control of the investigation.

   The deceased has been identified as Junny Lara-Velazquez DOB 01/28/2001 of 519 Park Street, Hartford, CT.

    Next of Kin has been identified as Kimberly Garcia DOB 03/27/1989 (sister) of 519 Park Street, Hartford, CT. 

DISGUSTING, WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?

MAYOR BRONIN STATEMENT ON STATE RECOMMENDATION TO ADDRESS CHIEF THODY CAR SCRAPE INTERNALLY

HARTFORD, CONN (July 7, 2020) – Today Mayor Bronin released the statement below after the Connecticut State Police informed the City of Hartford that the Middlesex State’s Attorney recommended that the State’s investigation into Police Chief Jason Thody’s car scrape on May 31, 2020 be closed and that the matter be referred back to the City of Hartford for any appropriate administrative action. 

Reports from the State Police show that a 911 caller reported Chief Thody’s car scrape and the State Police dispatched a car to respond.  The State trooper who responded did not locate Chief Thody’s car and “did not observe any signs of collision to any guardrail in the area” according to the investigation report filed.  The City expects to make a decision regarding potential discipline following the conclusion of the Internal Audit Commission’s look into the matter.  

“The 911 call confirms the basic facts that Chief Thody reported about this incident, which are that at approximately 4:50 PM on Sunday, May 31, Chief Thody was driving distractedly while conducting city business on his phone, veered and scraped against a guard rail, and continued on, as he was responding to an ongoing protest in Hartford,” said Mayor Luke Bronin.  “We will wait for any findings from the Internal Audit Commission, but at this point my assessment remains that this was a minor incident that Chief Thody documented and reported to the city’s Chief Operating Officer that same day.”

END OF BRONIN STATEMENT

Does Luke Bronin not have a problem with his hand picked Police Chief and his total lack of integrity? Or is Bronin ok with this coverup by his Police Chief and Chief Operating. What else can you call it with all of the changing stories?

The biggest question for me is why? That recording is pretty bad, hitting guardrails, almost hitting two motorcycles, speeds on back roads in excess of 65 miles per hour. Is that the behavior the men and women of the Hartford Police Depart should strive to be like. Is that behavior that sets an example that the residents of Hartford and Hartford's youth should try to emulate.

Or does it most likely foster more mistrust of law enforcement and definitely the people of Hartford.

Maybe Bronin should listen to that recording, I heard the caller mention "heavy damage" not the "scrape"Bronin would like us to believe.

The whole thing is disgusting and makes Luke Bronin look like more of a hypocrite who will talk before the cameras about Police accountability and turn a blind eye to this.

THE DOCUMENTS:

5.31.2020 Incident Documents_Redacted by

911 CALLER REPORTING HARTFORD POLICE CHIEF JASON THODY AS INTOXICATED DRIVER AND EVADING CRASH

Much more to come on this as I review more documents

SERIOUSLY THEA, "JUST A SCRATCH?"

They just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper. New documents have been obtained by "We the People" today showing that  Hartford's Police Chief Jason Thody, his Assistant Chief Raphael Medina and Hartford's Chief Operating Officer have been far less than truthful in their depiction of Thody's Evading crash in the Town of Chester on May, 31, 2020.

They all depicted the crash as "minor scratches" and "minor paint transfer", They further went on to explain Thody's evasion from the accident scene because the damage was less than $1,000.00. There is no provision in Connecticut State law to give a free pass to anyone, including a Police Chief , when the damage is less than $1,000.00. The operator MUST stop and report the accident to Police.

Well, even though Montanez, Thody and Medina all put in their reports that the damage was less than $1,000.00, documents in the form of the invoice from Friendly's Autobody where the repairs were performed, itemize the amount as $3324.00. As you can see, much more than a minor scratch repaired as they originally claimed when I first reported on Thody's crash.

It is also somewhat suspicious that the invoice was only submitted  to the insurance company yesterday after a Police Lieutenant was at Friendly's Monday trying to get the invoice, or should I call it arm twisting? The Middlesex County States Attorney handling the investigation may actually call it witness tampering.  Are the amounts accurate as listed now or was that a compromise to make the band of three look less like liars and soften the impact?

At this point who can we actually believe and trust? I would say none of them

Thody Crash Bill and Photos by kevinhfd on Scribd

CHIEF THODY AND ASSISTANT CHIEF MEDINA APPARENTLY LESS THAN TRUTHFUL IN CRASH COVERUP

BRONIN'S HAND PICKED POLICE CHIEF

The documents and information are coming in and apparently Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody and his Assistant Chief Raphael Medina are being less than truthful in reporting Thody's May 31,2020 crash.

In an e-mail sent last night by Chief Operating Officer Thea Montanez to Councilmembers, Montanez stated that she had received  an invoice from Friendly's Autobody for the vehicle repair for "approximately" $3300.00 Approximately? Does the City of Hartford now pay "approximate" amounts. How do you deposit an "approximate" amount? Do they have the actual amount or not? Where is the actual invoice and insurance documents?

Montanez also states in her e-mail that she apparently doesn't agree with the repairs. She states in her e-mail "that ($3300.00) seems high based on the limited amount of damage, and so as part of my review of auto repair expenses, we will be using photos from this case to get other assessments of repair costs.

Shouldn't an estimate have been the first order of business before Thody dropped the car at Friendly's the day after the crash to quickly get it repaired. Was that in hopes that no one would notice? Does the City of Hartford have accepted protocols on how to conduct business, and isn't that Montanez's function to make sure proper protocol and policy and procedures are followed, or is it her role to cover-up bad deeds before the Council or the public find out?

And which photos are you going to use to get other  "assessments", the photos Thody claims he took himself? Where are the photos from the Crime Scene Division (CSD) that normally accompany any cruiser accident. Or maybe the Chief didn't want CSD involved because it wouldn't have been kept quiet?

It also really makes me question  Assistant Chief Medina's (or whoever wrote the cover up report) and their investigative skills. How would a trained investigator write a report quoting a damage report amount of "less than $1,000.00" without actually seeing any repair documents. Isn't that the first thing you would ask to see before going out on a limb and quoting a dollar amount.

A dollar amount that I might add would be pretty easy to eventually verify or discount . I think anyone that has had body work done knows that even a plastic grill is most likely more than $1,000 to replace , not including labor charges. But I guess when you just take it for granted that you are dealing with stupid  people who just don't care, the coverup is easy.

Well,  Chief Thody, Ms. Montanez, Mayor Bronin and Assistant Chief Medina and Councilmembers, we aren't nearly as ignorant as you think we are and your actions are disgusting. Ms. Montanez, do your job and end the cover-up. For whatever reason you are willing to continue to put out false information is beyond me. Have you ever heard the saying that "the cover-up is worse than the crime". Montanez, Thody and Medina are digging the hole deeper with every lie you type. End this charade and start telling the truth, that is what you all are paid for by the people of Hartford. Every lie you tell continues to erode the trust and confidence we have in the Hartford Police Department.

And by the way, when do we get the phone records and the paperwork submitted to the Insurance Company or are those already part of a criminal investigation? ( I can't wait for those documents)

Mayor Bronin, it is time for you to start doing some housecleaning and get HPD back in order before it gets much worse.