WELCOME TO HARTFORD

The Front Street parking lot, the crown jewel of the State of Connecticut's investment into Hartford's Redevelopment. How safe do you fell visiting or living here?

We hear a lot of phrases thrown about when it comes to Hartford's image, "Quality of Life " is probably one of the big ones when it comes to living in Hartford, but is just a catch phrase? How does one measure the quality of life?

Is it measured by how safe people feel in their homes or neighborhoods? Is it measured by being able to cross the streets without being rundown in a crosswalk by a reckless driver ? Is it by being able to stop at a traffic light without panhandlers accosting you and your vehicle? Is it by being able to spend anytime outside of  your house without hearing gunshots? Is it being able to fall asleep at night without illegal fireworks rattling your windows?

If so Hartford is failing big time by those parameters.

The recent outbreak or more likely epidemic of car breaks and thefts this past week in Hartford does not enhance the quality of life in Luke's Kingdom. If anything, especially to anyone coming into the City and witnessing the shattered auto glass and vehicles sitting on rims after their tires are stolen only serves as evidence that the recent crime bill is not working.

As in the past, prior to the Democrats pushing a poorly designed bill through. Previously, Police Officers were able to stop suspicious vehicles at 3:00am as they lurked in neighborhoods and behind buildings. Now our Officer's have been handcuffed by the Legislature. Many officers are reluctant to stop a vehicle ,unsure of whether or not they will be supported by their administration for doing their jobs

Welcome to Hartford, get used to it. It probably isn't going to change for the better anytime soon

HPD COVID UPDATE

 Some days I wonder if it is worth the time and effort I put into this Blog. An anonymous phone call I received yesterday from a caller ,who identified himself as a Hartford Police Officer, gave me a very clear answer to  that question.

The caller wanted to thank me for my efforts to get Covid 19 sanitizing supplies for HPD officers. He said that he felt that I had more concern for HPD Officers than their own Chief''s did, I guess looking at the facts, I probably can't argue with that.

The caller felt that the response by Chief Jason Thody, Assistant Chief Ralph Medina and Deputy Chief Dustin Rendock had been abysmal after a recent Covid-19  outbreak began to spread through HPD. Several HPD Officers had tested positive for Covid but  that information was not shared with HPD Officers by the Command Staff. As a sidenote , all are apparently recovering well, thankfully

My original posting also pointed ot the deficiencies in any Covid prevention measures by Thody and his band of Merry Men. A couple days after my Blog posting I received a text message from an HPD source to tell me that immediately after my post HPD Admin "handed out N95 masks to everyone, hand sanitizer stations at 253 (253 High Street, Police Headquarters) car cleanings at 40J (40 Jennings Road, DPW Maintenance Garage), it's like suddenly they remembers Covid exists? Ha. Spray bottles with disinfectant for cruisers too".

Now, I have to ask, why did it take a blog posting to properly  protect our Police Officers and their families from possible infection. Aren't we paying enough to the Thody Brain Trust to expect Medina and Rendock to do their jobs?

Well, all is well that ends well and at least our front line Police Officers are getting some of the protections they should have been getting all along. And once again a special thank you to retired Deputy Chief Brian Foley, now an Aid to Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella, and Hartford's Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Reggie Freeman  for getting the ball rolling on providing these supplies minutes after I made them aware of the problem.

And to all of our our First Responders and Medical professionals, a very Happy Thanksgiving and stay safe and healthy.