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Monday, February 25, 2019

YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE CITY HALL. THE BAERGA TIMELINE IS COMING OUT

Hartford City Hall has been pretty silent over the sexual harassment complaint by Hartford Officer Kelly Baerga. There may very well be a good reason for it.

Part of it may be the unspoken support for the alleged  abuser, Hartford Police Sergeant Andrew Rodney. Rodney is also a member of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee from the 7th District, as well as a visible supporter for the re-election of Mayor Luke Bronin.

THE FULL BAERGA COMPLAINT MEMO IS BELOW AT THE END OF THIS POST

Although some, including LGBTQ activists, are attempting to portray the Hartford Police Department as a "toxic" environment, unsafe for female employees, the documents portray a different picture. The heavily redacted documents obtained by We the People through a Freedom of Information request paint a timeline for Baerga's complaint, much different  than we would be led to believe by City Hall..

Officer Baerga is also HPD's liaison to the LGBTQ community,

The heavily redacted documents  will be the subject of an FOI complaint I am filing challenging the City's claim that the redactions are legal, but in the interest of revealing information now, I am posting the heavily redacted pages.

Although we have been led to believe that HPD sat on Baerga's complaint for over half a year and did nothing, that is not true and the dated documents prove that is untrue.

Baerga's complaint was originally made to her supervisor , Lt. Paul West on or about May 28, 2018. Almost immediately Chief David Rosado instructed IAD Lt. Brandon O'Brien to open an immediate investigation into Baerga's allegations

SCN_0005 by on Scribd
In addition, the alleged abuser, Sergeant Andrew Rodney was immediately transferred out of the Recruiting Division to avoid contact with Officer Baerga. This was carried out by an order from Assistant Chief Ralph Medina on the same day he was made aware of the allegations. Medina's transfer order was carried out through an internal e-mail sent by Sgt. Brian Bowsza
SCN_0006 by on Scribd
Due to some strange City policy, the Baerga investigation was taken away from the trained investigators at the HPD Internal Affairs Division as Chief Rosado had ordered and instead was turned over to Cherese Chery, the city's Director of Human Resources. I am not sure what Chery's background is investigating similar complaints, but none the less, that is the City way.  The investigation sat in the HR Director's Office for roughly five months until on September 28, 2018, a report was forwarded to Assistant Chief Medina with her findings.

Despite most, if not all of Baerga's allegations being substantiated through the HR Director's "investigation", the  only recommendation was that " the results of the Investigation indicate an opportunity for sexual harassment prevention training" for Sergeant Rodney and Lieutenant West.

That's it,  a slap on the wrist and "retraining" for the abuser.
SCN_0007 by on Scribd
On December 21, 2018, HPD Assistant Chief Jason Thody referred the matter back to HPD internal Affairs Commander Lt. Kevin O'Brien for further investigation , above and beyond the recommendations of the HR Director. O'Brien was instructed to fully investigate the matter  for potential Code of conduct violations. This, in my opinion, is where the investigation should have resided from the start instead of the delays caused by City Hall intervening and adding an undue delay to Baerga's complaint
SCN_0008 by on Scribd
I am not clear why the policy requires the matter to be referred to the HR Director rather than the investigators at HPD actually conducting an investigation. This would seem to cause an undue delay to the facts actually coming out or more likely is it a way for City Hall to control the outcome?

More to come on this I am pretty sure as more layers of the onion get peeled back
Baerga Complaint by on Scribd

Sunday, February 24, 2019

REALITY CHECK

This is just an example of how fast these situations can go bad.

 Luckily with body cams it is much easier to get the full perspective. This is the unsanitized version  of an Officer  Involved Shooting from Napa Valley California, all over a routine traffic stop, if there is such a thing as routine any more.

 I can't believe how calm the Officer remained, but I guess  that says a lot about her training. Stay safe Officer's



MAYOR BRONIN AND THE HARTFORD DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE, DISCRIMINATION IN ANY FORM IS NOT A HARTFORD VALUE

The Officer Baerga sexual harassment complaint has brought a sudden case of laryngitis to Hartford City Hall.

It is not unusual that many have lost their voices in a building that is quick to comment on everything else. Maybe it is an election year and people are worried about losing votes if they call out the accused offender. Maybe it might be because the complaint sat in City Hall for months with no action. Maybe it is because it involves a LGBTQ person and that is not as big of a deal and won't get the same headlines as if it were a racial issue.

Whatever the reason, wrong is wrong and the fact that  Mayor Bronin and the Hartford Democratic Town Committee has chosen to remain silent when the accused harasser is also a member of the Democratic Town Committee is also wrong.

I recently questioned a member of the Democratic Town Committee as to their silence and the response was that "Marc Dibella is the Town Chair"

Well let me ask , do Town Committee members answer to Marc Dibella or does he answer to them?

I think we all know the answer to that question.

Below is the list of current Hartford Democratic Town Committee members by District. If you can , message them through Facebook or call them and let them know  any form of discrimination can not be tolerated and we expect them to exercise their voices and stand for something.
Hartford Dtc List by on Scribd

Friday, February 22, 2019

FROM HPD: 2019 HOMICIDE NUMBER 5

On Thursday February 21, 2019 at approximately 2131 hours, Hartford Police Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a person being stabbed at 2327 Main Street. Responding Patrol Officers located a victim, who sustained multiple stab wounds, and the suspect who was taken into custody without incident. The victim was transported to Saint Francis Hospital for treatment and later succumbed to his injuries. The Major Crimes Division was notified and assumed control of the investigation. The suspect, Mayceo Montford DOB 01/03/1975 was later charged with one count of Murder and is currently being held in lieu of a $1,000,000 dollar bond.

Victim: Banks, Shawn DOB 08/29/1978 of 603 Blue Hills Avenue, Hartford, CT

FROM HPD: PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY TRUCK IDENTIFIED

The identity of yesterday’s Tractor Trailer vs. pedestrian motor vehicle accident at High Street and Walnut Street is the following:

Injured Pedestrian- Carl Loven DOB 07/11/1941, resident of Hartford, CT.
Mr. Loven is still in critical condition as a result of the accident.

The HPD Crime Scene Division is still investigating the case.  No charges have been filed.  The operator of the TT remained on scene and is cooperating with the investigation.


Monday, February 18, 2019

NEXT HPD RECRUIT CLASS INCREASING DIVERSITY

Some basic numbers for the incoming HPD recruit class scheduled to begin in March.

The class is made up of 2 Black males, 3 Black females, 6 Hispanic males, 3 Hispanic females,3 White males, 1 White female.

5 are Hartford Residents, 14 are non residents

The class was originally scheduled for 19 recruits, but 1 Hispanic male has dropped out.

**Note- There are no requirements to identify as LGBTQ and those stats are not kept