HPD RELEASES IAD REPORT ON EXCESSIVE FORCE ACCUSATION

On Saturday, June 4, 2016 Officers of the Hartford and West Hartford Police Departments and Connecticut State Police engaged in a motor vehicle pursuit that began in Hartford and ended with the arrest of the driver and his passenger in West Hartford. The pursuit began when a Hartford Police Officer determined that the car in question was stolen. When officers attempted to stop the car the driver sped away and led police on a chase through several residential streets in Hartford. When the pursuit reached West Hartford, and after the police deployed “stop sticks,” the stolen car was brought to a halt. In the course of arresting both occupants of the stolen vehicle, officers used force-including the use of a TASER-to affect the arrests. Both arrestees suffered visible facial injuries at some point.

Preliminary review of the incident and available evidence raised serious concerns of possible excessive force used by some of the officers. As a result, the Hartford Police Department launched an immediate internal investigation on Sunday June 5, 2016. Police cruiser video cameras captured footage of possible misconduct. Contact was made between HPD, the West Hartford Police Department, the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s office. This incident was investigated criminally by the Litchfield Connecticut State’s Attorney’s office to determine if criminal charges were warranted.  Any questions related to the criminal investigation should be directed to the Litchfield Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office.

In sensitive incidents related to police use of force it has been our practice to release as much information as possible as soon as it is available. We have already shared information and had community conversation about this incident on several occasions. The Hartford Police Department has previously (10/05/16) released all video evidence related to this incident to our community as well as the media. The Hartford Police Department administrative investigation has now been completed. The 68 page Internal Affairs investigation and findings are attached (The summary begins at the bottom of page 56). We have also attached a document that describes the discipline that was applied to many of the Officers involved.

We take great care to partner and dialogue with our community every day, and we appreciate our community's input and ideas. While this internal administrative investigation is complete, we will continue to share the information we gather and communicate it openly.

Disciplinary Summary - I-File _2016-005 by Kevin Brookman on Scribd

WH Investigation by Kevin Brookman on Scribd

MAYOR PEDRO SEGARRA SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON OPENING OF DUNKIN DONUTS PARK AND YARDGOAT'S TWO GAME WINNING STREAK

KEEP HIM IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

Last Thursday Hartford Firefighter Jimmy NGO was shot several times in Rocky Hill. One shot was apparently to his face and several more were to his back. Ngo survived and underwent a couple surgeries last Friday, and from what I am told, he was very lucky and  is recovering well.

According to sources, a suspect was identified and a warrant was "walked through" the New Britain court on Friday. I am not going to post anymore information about the suspect until he is in custody.

In the meantime please keep Jimmy Ngo and his family, as well as all of our first responders , in your thoughts and pray for a speedy and complete recovery for him

WHY CAN'T HARTFORD RECRUIT OR MORE ACCURATELY WHY WON'T THEY HIRE POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS ?

Hartford has a problem. Actually , no Hartford has a crisis and it is going to get much worse if City Hall doesn't get serious.

The numbers of Police Officers and fire fighters are decreasing everyday. This is not news. Neither is the fact that both HPD and HFD have warned of the impending crisis as the City fails to get serious about hiring replacements for the attrition of Police Officers and Firefighters. And if my sources are accurate, which they usually are, it is going to get much worse as June and July approach and numerous retirements are expected.

Combine that with the uncertainty created by the Mayor's efforts to balance the City's budget on the backs of employee salaries and pensions, and we have a real recipe for disaster.

It is somewhat interesting that the New York City Police Department can recruit and graduate over 600 Police Officers in one shot, yet Mayor Bronin tells us he can't even find a dozen qualified applicants to enter the HPD Academy as recruits and HFD is finding the same fate.

The starting salary for a NYPD Officer is $42,500 while Hartford is slightly higher at about $43,800 but Hartford is still lower than most surrounding towns. Most Police Officer's and Firefighters get into the business because of family tradition or their desire for public service, many of them have already served their communities and their Country through military service. The second leading reason is probably, to be completely honest, the job security and the benefits, including the pensions.

The uncertainty in Hartford over the future of the City finances and the future of those benefits and pensions is a big reason for the attrition, early retirements as well as people just applying to other towns where the future looks brighter. And where the support of Administrators looks more sound than Hartford.

Another major reason for finding qualified applicants is the cumbersome state of Hartford's hiring process. If someone is serious about finding a job and starting a career. they will go to a town where the process takes months, as opposed to a hiring process in Hartford that sometimes (actually most times) drags on for a year or longer So during that delay time, good applicants are going to get grabbed up by other agencies that know how to streamline the process.

Hartford also needs to get serious about recruiting efforts.  If applicants aren't walking in the doors at 253 High Street, then they need to go out and find them. That may involve a little bit of salesmanship at places like career shows, college campuses and military installations. It also should involve people that take pride in their uniform and wear it proudly and take pride in their chosen career. Not "toning it down" by wearing a smurf colored Polo shirt.

Look at the two web links below and decide which one will draw in applicants. NYPD that provides pertinent information or Hartford.gov that says fill out the card and we will get back to you.

And finally, is Mayor Bronin serious about hiring or is he more interested in the budget dollars saved by not hiring. Do the math , failing to hire 100 police officers at $50,000 roughly in annual salary for each is $6,250,000 saved for each year those positions are left unfilled. Add the same number for Fire Fighter unfilled vacancies and that is almost $13,000,000 a year saved. That is $26,000,000 over the time Bronin will be slashing the budget so far. A big help for a precarious budget deficit to save $ 26,000,000 plus roughly another 40%of that amount for fringe benefits

If NYPD can do it, why can't Hartford? Or is it just our inferiority complex we are led to believe exists that is keeping applicants away

Let's get serious about recruiting to avoid the impending disaster headed our way for Public Safety


http://www.hartford.gov/police/recruitment
http://www.nypdrecruit.com/

HAVE A SAY IN HOW YOUR MONEY IS SQUANDERED

Legal Notice - Public Hearing for the Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginnig July 1 2017  on Scribd

IT IS TIME FOR GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS FOR LUKE

Well, Mayor Bronins 2017-2018 budget has been released. It is far from a done deal and will most likely be tweaked over the next several weeks as the Hartford City Council begins their work before submitting a final budget, probably tweaked to add more special favors and garner political support, rather than tough decisions to bring financial sustainability to Hartford.

But one thing is clear in the budget, Bronin has no trouble gambling with Hartford's future. Whether it is borrowing $20 million plus for "short-term" budget gap closing measures or failing to show any vision or leadership with budget cuts, Bronin's budget is short on vision and leadership for Hartford's sustainability.

Some days, I  expect Bronin to ask City Treasurer Adam Cloud for a sack of cash with a couple hundred thousand dollars so that Bronin can head to Foxwood's and put it "all on red" or maybe see him in line buying a couple hundred thousand Power Ball tickets at a corner bodega , hoping to hit it big to solve Hartford's deficit crisis.

The casino or Power Ball both have about as much chance of hitting it big as does Bronin's hopes of a huge windfall from the State of Connecticut next year. Much of that hope is based on revenue from the Hospital Tax being contemplated by the Legislature. I would go with the Power Ball option Luke, the odds of hitting that are probably better than the Hospital Tax passing.

But what the heck, lets borrow $20 million hoping it can be paid back. Bankruptcy is always an option for Hartford, so why not roll the dice.

I again have to ask, what is the plan and where is the vision? An $11 million dollar budget increase is reckless, especially when we keep hearing the threat of Bankruptcy. And the continued excuses really are wearing thin. It is time for tough decisions and that needs to be done now. It may not further the Bronin's political aspirations , but  Bronin wasn't elected because of where he hopes to be on the political ladder 10 years from now. He was elected to run the City of Hartford today and for the next two and a half years and some of those tough decisions he needs to make won't make him politically popular.

How does New Britain do it? Maybe Mayor Stewart would be willing to give some mentoring lessons to Luke

Really, $250,000 for heated bus stops and laptops in the libraries? Are we serious about positioning Hartford for the future or are we all about the feel good now? Can you hear our suburban neighbors doubled over in laughter. We can't even pay our sewer bills, but now heated bus stops? Are  the manicurists providing services at the bus stops going to be City employees or independent contractors? Just asking because I can see it coming. And will the bus stops have cable TV and internet ? I think many people using mass transit in Hartford would just be happy with a bus stop, period, heated or not.

Heated bus stops at the same time we lay off lifeguards at the City pools and contemplate cutting over $200,000 from senior Centers and programs for our senior citizens? Really Luke?

And just another quick observation, if the Citizen budgeting is supposed to encourage participation, then why in a City of over 120,000 residents did less than 1% participate. Apparently about 1,200 people actually turned out to cast a vote. But at least they could feel good when they did vote.

Those tough decisions are part of the strings attached to the $50 million pledge made by Hartford's Corporate leaders. One of the strings were that the money need to be accompanied by a Viable plan for sustainability for the future of Hartford. Increasing the budget by $11 million while revenue and taxes are pretty much flat and hopes of additional State funding are a long shot at best and the Union concessions we keep banking on don't seem to be coming through. These are not viable plans for sustainability.

There is still an awful lot of fat at City Hall, even though we keep hearing about the "bare bones". When is someone finally going to have the guts to cut the number of City Council assistants? That is not directly under the Mayor's control, but it would be a good spot to start. How effective is the Office of Corporation Counsel, and do we still need all those attorneys if just about everything legal is already contracted out to other outside law firms? The use of City cars is still an issue, especially with the number of SUV's in use as opposed to economy and energy efficient vehicles. And the City regulation that the cars only be used for City business seems to be about as much a waste as the paper to print the regulations.

There also needs to be better supervision to ensure that every dollar we are spending, especially overtime, is being used effectively. That includes people that are paid double time on holidays like Good Friday and then hide in a substation all day watching cable TV and drinking espresso, while their supervisors watch.

 Now is the time for effective leadership, not gambling with Hartford's future.