
On Labor Day weekend, I had a couple of stories given to me by sources. One, I thought, was going to be a huge story, it involved arrest warrants that were filed for the arrests of four men who were apparently neighbors of a woman found dead in her Goodrich Street home. The arrest were going to be for burglary charges that the men cleaned out the dead woman's home as she lay dead and decomposing in her house.
I was wrong.
The big story has turned out to be a crazy incident between a Hartford Police Officer and Connecticut's State Treasurer Denise Nappier. It should also be a textbook case of how not to respond to a public relations issue on the part of those involved.
There is more than enough blame and finger pointing to go around, and it is time for all involved to provide some honest answers.
Let's start with HPD. I think if anyone looked at the officer's actions strictly from a clinical, sterile, textbook view, Officer Kidik was operating within the bounds of the state motor vehicle laws. The plates did not come back registered, the paperwork was not in order, the insurance card was either expired or non existent. The big question I have to ask is where was the supervision? This will eventually all play out as the "SIR", special investigation, is completed.
No Sergeant, no Lieutenant and not even a dispatch supervisor perked up when they might have heard the name Denise Nappier or the issue with a State of Connecticut plate? Officer Kidik was well aware of whose vehicle she was towing, I know that for a fact. At what point should common sense have kicked in and just for her own sake, why didn't she notify her supervisor of what was happening? They notify their bosses of far less at times.
And even above the level of her Sergeant, no one noticed this at Jennings Road? Did it really take Hartford State's Attorney Gail Hardy storming into the Chief's Complex to make HPD aware of what had happened. And it makes you wonder how I knew about the incident within minutes after it happened, yet none of the top heavy Command staff had a clue?
And what about Gail Hardy's involvement? When was the last time Ms. Hardy was involved in dismissing a minor traffic stop? Was it just another jab by Hardy at Chief Roberts in their contentious relationship?
And who made the decision not to release the incident report. A report that FOI stated was clearly a public document and the decision not to release it just stinks of a cover up. Eventually when an FOI complaint goes to a hearing the truth may come out. Was it just a ploy on the part of HPD to stall, knowing that FOI is a cumbersome process that doesn't move quickly and when it does, the report would be a dead issue in a year or so?
Who made that call, one of the members of the DKR brain trust sitting on the second floor ? Another one of his loyal Deputy or Assistant Chief's who work daily to undermine him, hoping to be next in line for the third star on their collar? Was it Nancy Mulroy, who should know better, but keeps with the program to keep her job?
And now enter Connecticut's State Treasurer, the honorable Denise Nappier. We are ready for the truth Madame Treasurer, and you might find that people will be supportive if you come clean with the facts. Enough said, but the nonsense being put forth at this point only is raising more suspicion. To blame your treatment on race is an insult to everyone. Put the blame where it really belongs. Like I said before, there is enough finger pointing to go around.
Put some blame on those State agencies that let you down, DMV and DAS seemed to play large roles in this getting to the level it did. If DMV had done their job, it most likely would have ended when Officer Kidik ran your plate and it came back to that vehicle. And what about DAS? If you were able to hand her a valid registration, at the very least, I'm not sure the insurance would have even been an issue.
The other part of your explanation which is very lame, was the reason for the passenger plate. You are given a vehicle as State Treasurer with the "4" plate because you are the State Treasurer. If you want to drive around and not be identified as our State Treasurer, buy a car and drive wherever you want.
I do have to say though, the most disheartening part of your explanation was your claim as to why you used the passenger plate. Because you parked in a handicap spot and got caught, you didn't want people to recognize your vehicle in the future? How about abiding by the same laws the rest of us have to when we park, whether people can identify your car or not?
How about holding a joint press conference and everyone owning up to their part of this mess, put the facts out there, and put this thing to bed once and for all. And to put al of the blame on the police officer is wrong, there were plenty of people well above her pay grade that should be held accountable first.