Search This Blog

Saturday, June 8, 2013

HARTFORD POLICE SEARCHING FOR MISSING GIRL

 
 
Hartford Police are looking for a 16-year-old girl who disappeared from a function at the Elizabeth Park Pond House on Friday night.

Julia Sol Rivera left the event  to use the restroom at about 8:56 p.m. and never returned, police said.
She was last seen wearing a black dress, red sweater, black tights and red shoes. She was also carryi.ng a black and gray Coach purse, police said.Rivera, a resident if Scarborough Street, may have been at Blueback Square later in the evening.


Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Ivys Arroyo at 860-757-4232 or Sergeant Matthew Eisele at 860-757-4242.

[                                                                                                                            


Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Ivys Arroyo at 860-757-4232 or Sergeant Matthew Eisele at 860-757-4242.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

COURANT: "SEGARRA'S OFFICE SHOCKED", SHOULD BE ASHAMED

According to the Hartford Courant today, Mayor Pedro Segarra and his staff today were "shocked" to learn that a popular basketball program that has worked with Hartford's youth for 16  years would be moving to Waterbury.

Shocked? The proper term should be ashamed. With Segarra's high priced marketing staff, should they not have been on top of this. Did it not dawn on any of the braintrust "Geez, have you noticed the pro-am hasn't booked any school for 6 weeks like they usually do?". No one noticed that there were no planning meetings being held?" Or even that someone probably should reach out to the pro-am organizers and ask " How can we help you get this moving for this year?"

That's what sales people do. They chase the leads and make sure they are closing the deals. Not let them pack up and move to Waterbury without a fight.

Again, they should be shocked, embarrassed and all the other words that apply to incompetent individuals that are more concerned about salaries than moving Hartford forward and serving our youth.

If the pro-am has saved one Hartford child from street violence, it's value is priceless and we can't allow events like this to slip through our fingers.

The leadership vacuum keeps growing every day.

You can read the Courant's article here

Monday, June 3, 2013

ROBIN FLIES THE COOP

 
Mayor Pedro Segarra's embattled Chief of Staff  Jared Kupiec today called it quits, claiming he is moving on to attend Law School. Just what we need, Kupiec as a lawyer.
 
In a letter to City staff, Kupiec stated:
 
"Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is with a mixture of joy and sadness that I announce my resignation today.  I will not be leaving immediately, however, as there is need to allow for a seamless transition and a full recalibration of the Mayor's administration.

It has been an absolute pleasure to serve the City of Hartford. I have learned a tremendous amount working alongside all of you and am grateful for all the work we’ve accomplished together.

I have thought a lot about this decision and know that it is the best one for me at this time. My next step will be to prepare for a new career outside of politics and law school, which has been a life-long ambition that I have put off for far too long.  I will always be loyal to our Capital City and am eager to continue championing its incredible potential. I look forward to seeing some of the projects I pushed forward grow and develop but there are new challenges and opportunities that I feel compelled to pursue.

I have to once again thank Mayor Segarra for giving me this special opportunity. It has been a tremendous journey to work for someone with real vision and passion.

Thank you all for your tireless dedication to the City of Hartford and I look forward to staying in touch.

-J
 
For more on Kupiec, especially his misuse of his City Credit card, enter his name in the search bar above.
 
More on this when I have the time to type more
 
 

Friday, May 24, 2013

HPD SERGEANT REASSIGNED OVER ALLEGED RACIAL COMMENTS

This is one of those postings that needs to go into the "Really? What were you thinking?" file.

A Hartford police department Sergeant, Stephen Kessler, who had recently been assigned to the North District as the Administrative Sergeant supervising Community Service Officers and interacting with Community members and organizations, has been removed from that position and reassigned to the booking area at Headquarters.

The reassignment took place after comments came to light that Kessler had apparently made over a recorded radio channel. Kessler apparently referred to loiterers on Barbour Street as looking like "Gorilla's in the mist" on HPD's Tactical Radio Channel,  according to several police sources. Additional allegations into specific comments allegedly made by Kessler referring to African-Americans are also being investigated by the HPD Internal Affair's Division. Officers that may have been present when the comments were made are being interviewed.

Chief James Rovella immediately initiated an internal investigation when the claims were brought to his attention and Kessler was removed from his position as of Wednesday.

Sources also informed me that the Hartford Guardians, a fraternal police organization inside HPD , were planning a special executive committee meeting to address the issue and possibly call for an investigation by an outside agency into the matter..

Thursday, May 23, 2013

HPD INVESTIGATING SEXUAL ASSAULT OF WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT

Hartford Police spokesperson Lt Brian Foley has confirmed that the Departments Special Investigations Division (SID) is investigating the reported sexual assault of a West Middle School student.

The assault of the male student is reported to have occurred on or near the grounds of the Asylum Avenue School. The assault was also apparently recorded on video by the perpetrators. HPD is apparently also in possession of that video.

The investigation is ongoing at this time

Monday, May 20, 2013

IS HARTFORD REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT CRIME?

Word is that as the Hartford City Council tries to deliver its budget package, they may be considering up to a three million dollar cut to the Hartford Police Department budget.

At last Monday nights homicide scene on Blue Hills Avenue, I spoke with Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings and she asked me what it was going to take to stop these senseless killings. My answer was simple, properly fund the police Department to be able to do the work that needs to be done.

The problem is that most Concilmembers don't really understand what policing a City like Hartford really entails. Sure they go out for a few hours to ride around, but they get the VIP tour where the reality is the furthest thing from what is actually happening.

They have the misunderstanding that pensions are driven by overtime. They aren't. Pensions are driven by "PJ's" , private duty jobs that are essentially the money officers make working at construction sites, concerts, XL center events and so on. Those used to be very lucrative in determining pension payouts, but as of the latest HPD Union Contract they play a much smaller role in the calculation.

I also explained to Councilwoman Jennings that the thugs on our streets have as good, if not better , intelligence networks when it comes to policing Hartford. They know that the shooting task force is probably half of what it was at this time last year. I'm not giving away any secret information here, it is a reality. Remember this time last year , it seemed as though the Task Force was in the news almost every day for gun seizures and arrests. They just don't have the bodies out there that they had last year.

And keep in mind that Mayor Caviar and his reckless financial spending have made it almost impossible for anyone on the state level to take us seriously if we ask for financial help for police spending or additional resources.

I had a conversation with Mayor Segarra several months ago and I told him he needed to keep in mind that the reduction in violent crime he loves talking about didn't happen by luck. It came about as a result of manpower and dollars directed at a serious problem. It didn't happen by luck.

It just seems odd that we can keep taxing the resources of the police department budget and still consider cutting even more. A special events budget that is basically money just thrown out the window. We keep allowing events that haven't even paid their bills for the previous year, some of them such as the West Indian Day parade that cost upwards of $55,000 for a one day event. How much of that could be used for coverage of "hot spot" areas that drive Hartford's crime.

The Council gave away a half a million dollar's in a land deal to benefit SAMA, a half a million dollars that probably would have been better allocated to the Police Department budget. But then again, SAMA delivers votes to our politicians, HPD doesn't.

The annual rent for the Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park is now paid to the Friends of Elizabeth  Park rahter than to the City of Hartford to be used as revenue to fund things like the Police Department budget. But then again the Mayor's partner is on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Elizabeth Park, not HPD, so clearly the Friends need to be properly funded.

Hartford needs to reassess its priorities and pay attention to what really matters, and there can be no greater priority than providing a safe city and a realistic approach to crime.

Cut the dollars for all City take home cars, eliminate travel and frivolous expenditures collect the revenue the City is entitled to, essentially pay attention to business and run this City like a business, not a free for all Charity operation.

Under Cheif Rovella, it seems pretty clear that he is squeezing every budget dollar for maximum impact, realigning positions to be able to use officers for the maximum benefit to HPD and just being very budget conscious. Yes , a novel idea for a Department Head to actually pay attention to his budget, but any further cuts would be crippling.

To Councilwoman Jennings and the rest of the Hartford City Council , the first step in answering how do we stop the senseless violence, the answer is no more cuts to HPD.