Judge Garfinkel wrote, in no uncertain terms:
"The City’s position, in addition to being unsupported by precedent, is bewildering. How can Hartford maintain a qualified police force when it is willing to expose its officers to personal liability for compensatory damages for civil rights judgments? What capable officer, in his or her right mind, would want to work for such a city? And what message does this send to the community, the residents of Hartford, when their governing officials promote a position that, in all likelihood, will leave them without full compensation for injuries in the event that they are the victims of a civil rights violation? The Court readily understands the need, as a general rule, to deter police officers from the sort of outrageous conduct that warrants punitive damages. But this is not that case. The result in this case, in a second trial after a jury could not reach a verdict in the first, was a close call. This case arose from a confrontation apparently instigated by Fabian Edwards, who lost his case, and involved something of a melee in an enclosed environment in which the officers were initially outnumbered.3 It is safe to say that no police officer would expect to be abandoned by his employer with respect to an award of compensatory damages in this case, even if a jury unexpectedly also awarded punitive damages. Nor should any officer expect that."
As Judge Garfinkel stated, Bronin's decision not to support his Police Officer's was "bewildering". I think one of the key points was that the officers who were originally sued , in the Judges opinion , did not display any wilfull misconduct or malicious intent but were merely performing their duty
And yes, in a violent City like Hartford unpleasant things can happen under adverse conditions. Who in their right mind would come work in a City that leaves them on their own even when they are acting in good faith. It sends , and it did send, a chilling message to our Police Officers
You can read the full decision below. Thank you Judge Garfinkel for applying common sense to this matter, even when City Hall couldn't or wouldn't
20170913 Indemnification Motion Ruling by on Scribd
12 comments:
Scathing. Bronin has disgraced his officers and completely turned his back on them. They should do the same to him, why any cops are doing anything is beyond me. Bronin needs to step up, start supporting his officers, and give them a fair and equitable contract. Bronin should take some lesson from Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury....a mayor that supports his police and fire department.
Big difference, Mark Boughton is a Republican
Bronin is correct. There awards are too large. STOP GIVING AWAY THE CANDY STORE. I overheard a neighborhood cop brag that he puts in 72 to 80 hours per week. Right and his last three years, he will put in 109 hours per week.
And what does that comment have to do with the Judges decision, but you are correct, over half a million for a dog? A sad situation , but not intentional or malicious by the officer's actions. And the reason for those excessive hours is due to the lack of hiring by City Hall. Shifts an positions still need to be covered, and almost 150 officers short increases the need for overtime, a simple calculation. And the Fire Department is facing the same situation.
My advice to young officers with less than 5 years on the job at HPD.....go to a PD with a 20 year retirement. A PD in a town or city that won't be facing bankruptcy now or in the future, preferably out of state. Avoid sanctuary cities and blue states if possible. Mayor Bronin and city politicians don't appreciate you and never will. God forbid if your ever put in a position where your forced to use lethal force, the city will abandon you quicker than you can blink your eyes.
There is a remedy for dealing with officers that act "outside" their authority or in a "malicious" fashion; document, discipline and terminate them. Some B.S.motion attempting to expose officers to liability, undermines the trust officers have that they can do their job properly with backing of the city and keeps bad actors on the job.
Your obviously not familiar with law enforcement as that's absolutely positively not true. In case you weren't aware, bad guys constantly sue, for anything and everything, even when the cops do everything properly. Use of force always comes into question even when it's deemed justified. Car chases, even when bad guys crash they sue. During an arrest when the bad guys resist, if they're hurt they sue. A certain proactive officer that was south east conditions, now MCD, and a great officer / detective, was sued for a completely appropriate arrest, and had a judgment against him. So you are wrong and maybe should educate yourself how messed up the system is.
Kevin, Dem or Repub they are both aholes so spare me your partisan views. Secondly, I would not encourage anyone to apply here so I totally agree with 9/16 @1156am. Why on earth join a department that really doesn't have your back? Why work for a community/city that will drop you fast when sh** hits the fan? Bronin has time and time again spat on the officers of this department and I am glad someone called him out on it.
I guess we could look at both extremes here. For the 20% of cases where the officer legitimately goes outside the law and violates somebody's rights why should the taxpayers be on the hook?
Where does the 20% statistic come from?
Anonymous @7:48 I wasn't being literal in the statistic but it certainly is some number and anecdotally 20% isn't outrageous.
Bankruptcy will leave victims of both police violence or city of Hartford torts (think trip and fall on a sidewalk) with no money, as well. In Detroit, unsecured, nonprioritized tort claims from 42 USC §1983 cases (police misconduct) and garden variety tort injuries (cop car running red light, snow plow crashing into parked car, etc) were placed in Class 14 claims. In short, those victims of municipal wrongdoing got nada: Class 14 bondholders got 10-13 cents on the dollar over the course of 30 year payouts on those Class 14 bonds. So Luke is just giving the victims of police malfeasance an opportunity to collect here.
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