LUKE, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.. HPD'S VERSION OF THE CRUMBLING FOUNDATION PROBLEM

 

                             PAGE 1 OF HPD'S ATTRITION/ EXIT INTERVIEW DOCUMENT

The good men and women doing great work everyday are the actual foundation of the Hartford Police  Department. It is not the Chief or Assistant Chiefs or Command Staff . That foundation is crumbling under Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody and his administration. Since Thody took over in April of  2019 , nearly 50 officers have quit, many of them minority and female officers..

It took the Hartford Police Department over a month to comply, but they eventually released a document I had requested detailing the data under the Freedom of Information Act 

I  had asked for the exit interview information on Hartford Police Officers that have resigned from the Hartford Police Department. I was hoping to see how many officers have left under the tenure of Jason Thody as Chief. The numbers even surprised me.

I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was quite as bad as the numbers show. It is also very troubling to me the number of African Americans, Hispanics and women that have bailed. Much work had been put into minority recruitment by Thody's two predecessors, James Rovella and David Rosado. Thody has single handedly reversed that entire process faster than a Tahoe  evading a guardrail crash.

Hartford needs to have a Police Department that reflects the demographics of the City they serve and at this point Hartford is the employment recruiter for every other Department that understands diversity and gladly welcomes disgruntled Hartford Officers looking for better grounds.

The loss of trained officers is an issue. The loss of losing qualified minority officers after the hiring and training process is a much bigger issue for HPD  as well as the taxpayers that have made the investment in these officers. It is e4stimated that it may be upwards of $200,000 per officer to recruit, hire and train a Police Officer for their first year on the job, including salary and benefits

The details of why officers are leaving are also spelled out on the report. The majority seem to be over wages and benefits, but there also are some troubling comments that point to a deeper problem. Comments such as one officer claiming they were "setting him up for failure". Another officer claimed "I was encouraged by senior officers, Sergeants ,Lieutenants and Captains to leave from day one .I was told that things would not get better here and to leave as soon as possible". That must be encouraging to a new employee.

Another employee was quoted as saying they "didn't feel valued" another "didn't learn anything during FTO (Field Training Officer period) another officer "not feeling any support and select sergeants  made work toxic instead of helping him", another "poor equipment, low morale" and the list goes on and on.

Now I know not everyone is always going to be happy, but these numbers seem to be extreme losses for a struggling Department tasked with patrolling a very violent City. The bleeding needs to stop , both literally and figuratively if Hartford is going to survive.   VIEW THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT HERE  https://www.scribd.com/document/503071155/Responsive-Records-3https://www.scribd.com/document/503071155/Responsive-Records-3

WHERE IS THE BODY CAM FOOTAGE JASON?

 

                                               JASON THODY WORKING THE CROWD

Sunday there was an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota that resulted in the shooting death of a young man.

 The Police Chief in  that matter released the bodycam footage of the incident within hours.

Isn't that refreshing, a Police Chief who understands the need for transparency to maintain the public trust, if that's possible in these situations.

Now fast forward to Hartford and Chief Jason Thody. A female prisoner in the HPD booking facility was allegedly punched in the head by a Hartford Police Sergeant assigned to the booking facility.

That incident reportedly occurred on March 15, 2021, almost a month ago, and was fully documented on both bodycam footage and Internal Surveillance video. None of that footage has been released and remains in  the secretive "Good Old Boy" bunker that we call HPD. There is no need to hide the video from public scrutiny.

Even more suspicious is the fact that Thody never notified the Hartford County States Attorney of the incident until Good Friday, the same day that I broke the story and posted about it. It appears Thody only made his notifications after I made it public and posted it here.  Read that post here

That is not transparency, that appears to be a cover-up attempt; The facts will not change if the video is released  and there is no reason to keep it secret, other than to allow more time to doctor and cover-up the incident. 

At these critical times for Police/Community relations, Thody needs to make very effort to gain the publics support and shed light on the bad apples in his Department. Release the video now, that is what the bodycams are for and what the public needs if they are to trust the actions of their Police Department.

MORE LIP SERVICE FROM WASHINGTON

Why is it that every time there is gun violence or a tragedy, the Washington talking heads run to the microphones to spout their nonsense. After a senseless murder of a three year old in Hartford this weekend, US Senator Chris Murphy wasted no time in rattling off  tired his lines about background checks ,from the same old script that hasn't changed  at least since Newtown.

The only real thing that has changed is that nothing has changed.

I understand the debate over guns. Even though I support  the second Amendment, I will be the first to admit there are way too many guns out in our society. Not guns owned by legitimate gun owners but by people that have no business having their hands anywhere near a gun, People with mental illness and more importantly criminals that are forbidden from owning or possessing a firearm.

Every time you see an arrest and the charge is "criminal possession of a firearm", that means the person is most likely a convicted felon with a gun. A convicted felon who is forbidden by law from possessing a gun. A convicted felon who has no fear of the consequences of their crime because usually there are no consequences.

For my own education please, can anyone tell me how Senator Murphy's background checks will prevent that  Is a convicted felon going to proceed to their local police station or gunstore to be fingerprinted to legally go through their background check before they pick up a firearm? Are the street sellers going to require proof of a background check before selling a gun on the street?

How many shooters go through the cumbersome process to get a firearms permit before carrying a gun to shoot their next victim?

If we are serious about gun reform and ridding our streets of many of these weapons, lets be serious about reform that works, not just the rhetoric to inflame people and get the self promoting sound bytes.

Sandy Hook was December 14, 2012, what has changed since then? We will probably still be having the same debate with the same results ten years from now.

IT IS TIME TO SHOW JASON THODY THE EXIT FROM H.P.D.

 

Some may say it is too soon for this posting, so let me apologize up front to start. I can not sit by in silence thinking about a 3 year old child being gunned down on the streets of Hartford.

I have tried to be a huge supporter and to recognize and support the great work  the men and women of the Hartford Police Department do every day. I can not offer the same support to Hartford's Police Chief Jason Thody.

Thody has done more damage to the Hartford Police Department than I would have ever thought was possible in such a short period of time. Sadly, it is not just measured in the damage done internally to HPD but it has also carried through to damage to the people of Hartford. This weekends murder of a three year old child followed in quick succession of a 16 year old boy are both heartbreaking examples of Jason Thody's failure as a Chief . Those failures promise to continue throughout the summer if Thody remains as Chief.

The blame also needs to extend to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin for his failure to appoint a properly qualified Police Chief and his refusal to adjust course after Thody's failures became clearly obvious. Thody's reportedly drunken accident in his City vehicle should have been enough to replace the Captain headed toward the iceberg. But no, Bronin has allowed Thody to continue full steam ahead in his doomed voyage. An eyewitness to Thody's crash reported to Connecticut State Police that he believed Thody was operating his police vehicle drunk shortly before he went off the road and hit a guardrail and evaded the scene.

You would think that incident would have been enough to get Bronin to bring  a change to someone who could at least show some leadership and set a proper example for the rank and file of the Hartford Police Department. Nope.

The number of current lawsuits filed against Thody and his Command Staff  both in Stae and Federal Courts should point to a problem. The number of Officers that have left HPD in the past year should point to a problem. The common denominator for HPD's problems is Jason Thody.

Thody is a policy "wonk" , not a Police Administrator. Can you really blame him for not being in touch with the Community he serves? He has never been in the community so he can't relate or build the relationships  like other Chiefs have. Where previous Chief's have been comfortable walking some of Hartford's most troubled neighborhoods, Thody is more comfortable walking the deck of his boat to get to the lounge at the Marina, far away from Hartford.

The number of good officers being driven out and leaving for other jobs are in large part due to Thody's mismanagement. I had a veteran Police Officer call me last week and tell me they "hate" going to work every day now after what Jason Thody has done to HPD. This was not a chronic complainer, but someone who used to always tell me how much they loved HPD and loved their job.

Thody's arrogance has proved to be one of his biggest downfalls. His inability to play nice with others has been a huge detriment. For anyone that doubts that, ask how HPD works with ATF and their other Federal partners to combat guns in Hartford. The answer would probably be "ATF who?" . The relationship is virtually nonexistent now under Thody. 

Why wouldn't HPD be tapping into every Federal Resource and State agency possible so another 3 year old is not gunned down?

Under previous Chief's results were driven by communication and coordination to produce results.  Thody's "shotgun" approach , without communication and no coordination is producing  very little results, other than high overtime spending. The daily shootings and this years  murders are showing that. His constant shuffling of Commanders and rewarding those Commanders as payback  without concern for expertise or even capabilities is showing. Where is all of the Intel that used to be gathered under previous Chiefs to track guns and shooters. Where is Project Longevity? A program that started under Chief Rovella and brought back huge results in controlling criminals and keeping them on the right path. Project Longevity is dead under Chief Thody. (And the death of Longevity was not due to funding, apparently Commissioner Rovella was able to provide State funding for Longevity to continue so where's the money?)

I have had the pleasure of working with several good Police Chiefs during my years in Hartford. I didn't always agree with them, but I learned and respected their decisions, and  they usually respected  mine.

With Thody, I often wonder if I could call FEMA because he is such a disaster. He needs to go before Hartford suffers more.