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Sunday, February 5, 2012

MORE HARTFORD DISPATCH CENTER WOES....WHO IS ANSWERING YOUR 911 EMERGENCY CALLS ?

There seems to be numerous issues that have been ongoing in the Hartford Dispatch Center. Until recently those complaints were mostly brought about by community people not being pleased with the professionalism of the way their calls for help have been handled. There have also been numerous issues with the way police and firefighters feel their calls are being handled since the dispatch center was taken out from under police and fire supervision and turned over to a civilian director.

But now the complaints against dispatch personnel, including supervisors, seems to be turning more to criminal complaints.

Earlier this week I posted the arrest warrant affidavit for one dispatcher,Kim Walton. listed by the City of Hartford as a supervisor. Although the accusations against her are troublesome and seem to show a lack of discretion and question her integrity, it gets even worse.

Another dispatcher, also listed by the City of Hartford as a supervisor, was recently arrested for criminal activity while she was actually working. The charges she was arrested on, violation of a protective order, apparently occurred while she was working on the morning of November 28, 2011. This wasn't her first arrest though, by the same Police Department she is dispatching for.

The arrest report is below, but violation of a protective order is a serious matter and not usually taken lightly by judges when someone flaunts their orders. It seems that Cassandra Davis has history of domestic violence with HPD which started with her first arrest on September 12, 2011 after a confrontation with her children's father at 80 Prospect Avenue in Hartford. That arrest was made by the Hartford Police for Breach of Peace 2nd degree and Assault 3rd degree. That arrest report is also below.

I know dispatchers are human beings with personal issues, and I do not want to paint all of our dispatchers with a wide brush because there are some very good ones serving the people and the emergency service workers in Hartford. I am seriously concerned though about someone that engages in criminal activity while they are working.

Can anyone say that Davis's actions while she engaged in her criminal behavior on November 28th violating her protective order endangered police and firefighters? I would think that the odds are pretty good that if she was willing to push the limit and violate a judges order, then her mind probably wasn't in the right place and yes, she jeopardized every one's public safety.

According to Connecticut Judicial records, Cassandra Davis was also arrested by Windsor PD on January 28, 2011 for operating under suspension. That case is pending in Enfield Court.

In the meantime, according to City of Hartford records, both Walton and Davis are still employed by the City of Hartford and receiving their full pay.

And for anyone that paid attention to the Director of the Public Safety Communications Center, Andrew Jaffe recently at a MARG meeting, it raises two issues. Jaffe either lied to the audience or is out of touch with what goes on in the area he supervises. One of the complaints by a resident at that meeting was that dispatchers seemed to be on their cell phones and not paying attention to callers when they were calling 911.

Jaffe stated emphatically to the group that no dispatchers were allowed to have their cell phones with them while they were working. If that is the case, how was Cassandra Davis texting the "protectee" from her cellphone as the arrest report states?

There comes a time when the City Administration may actually have to say they made the wrong choice. Supervising 3 or 4 employees as a police Sergeant when you are responsible for handing out cellphones and pagers doesn't necessarily make someone qualified to run a twenty-four hour a day operation that is one of the most critical links between the public, police fire and EMS personnel. Throw into that the 311 operation also, as was done recently when it was jettisoned from the Mayor's Office, and it puts even more of a burden on a mismanaged operation.

It is time for a serious look at the Office of Emergency Telecommunications before someone gets seriously hurt or worse.The lives of our Police Officers and Firefighters depend on their efficiency and I think many would agree that they aren't comfortable with that level of efficiency at this point.

Arrest Report Cassandra Davis 9-12-11

Arrest Report Cassandra Davis 11-28-11

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

MORE PROBLEMS AT HARTFORD'S DISPATCH CENTER

The Hartford Emergency Dispatch Center continues to be the focus of internal problems. The Dispatch Center was severed from the Police Department several years ago by an act of the Hartford City Council and the separate "Department of Emergency Telecommunications" was formed. Another department created in a cash strapped City, complete with its own Director at a $100,000 plus annual salary and a City car to take home at night.

Where that home is also continues to be a large question as the Director, retired Hartford police sergeant Andrew Jaffe had promised both Mayor segarra and the previous Hartford City Council that he would establish residency in Hartford after accepting the position. Jaffe did purchase a condominium at 30 Woodland Street last year, but I would challenge anyone to find his City vehicle with the "HFD" municipal parked there at night. I have tried on numerous occasions and have not seen it there once yet.

So back to the most recent problem. It seems that one of Jaffee's dispatchers had loaned her personal vehicle, registered to her, to her fiancee and her brother apparently. That vehicle was then apparently used in some sort of criminal or questionable activity in Manchester. Manchester PD contacted the Hartford Dispatch Center in an attempt to locate the car and its occupants. Another dispatcher ran the plate given by Manchester PD and realized that it belonged to Dispatcher Kim Walton.

That eventually began a chain of events in which Walton was caught on video allegedly using the NCIC computer database to check on her fiancee and her brother, both of who had outstanding warrants.

The HPD arrest warrant application for Walton's arrest is below. After an investigation by HPD'sInternal Affairs Division, Walton was arrested and charged with Computer crimes 3rd degree and was arrested. Walton's arraignment was yesterday at GA14 at 101 Lafayette and was continued to February 14, 2012 according to a representative in the Clerk's Office at the Court.

No information was available on her current status as a City of Hartford employee although she is still listed as a Supervisor in the City's Emergency Telecommunications Dispatch Center according to City records.
Wtp Kim Walton Arrest Application

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

TOMORROW ON "WE THE PEOPLE"

Just a little tease for two postings coming for tomorrow.

Who are the latest city employees to be arrested at 50 Jennings Road? You might be surprised by the answer, and why has it been kept so quiet? Very few people were even aware of the arrest when I talked to them today. Learn more here tomorrow.

And also at 50 Jennings Road, find out who's touching who. This one will read like a segment from "Beverly Hills 90210" and you will most likely be shaking your head in disbelief that these are the same people responsible for your Public Safety. And at least one of the "touchy feely" leaders was the recipient of a "DKR headed out the door pardon" when their promotion probation was ended a couple months early to head off any possible demotions.

Check in tomorrow for all the details and more.

"WE THE PEOPLE" , OUR PUBLIC ACCESS PROGRAM

Our "We the people" program has been on Hartford Public Access, Channel 5, for a while. This week though we changed our set and graphics. I have received requests from people outside of Hartford asking how they could view the program. I will try to post it here weekly for those that would like to watch it.

This week we discussed Hartford's crime statistics, the Mayor's Board of Education picks and how the City Council responded and a little bit about the Superbowl where I played with my editing software to add a little variety to the program.

Here is the program below:

Saturday, January 28, 2012

FUNDRAISER FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE TO BE HELD SUNDAY


The 2012 Saint Patrick's Day parade Committee will be holding a Hartford fundraiser tomorrow at Damon's Tavern on Prospect Avenue in Hartford from 1:00 to 5:00pm.

A donation of $25.00 always promises a good time, good company and always good music by "Two for the Road". The event also includes drink specials, raffle prizes and a buffet.

Location: Damon's Tavern
310 Prospect Ave

Thursday, January 26, 2012

A TOUGH ONE TO WRITE

I guess it is about time to write this posting because I am getting more and more e-mails and phone calls asking why the blog has been so quiet.

This is a difficult one to write, but I am more optimistic about the future than I was a couple weeks ago.

During November and December I noticed that my vision was getting worse almost daily. I wear contacts and my corrected vision has always been very good and my prescription hasn't changed in years. It got to the point where I went to CVS and bought the "cheater glasses" so I could read things like the newspaper and use a computer.

That helped for a couple weeks, but even that became useless after a couple weeks. I went to my optometrist and was told that it was just "old age" creeping up on me.Around Christmas the "old age" really began moving fast and I didn't even feel comfortable driving. I wasn't looking forward to "old age" if things deteriorated this quick.

I just wasn't comfortable with the "old age" diagnosis and looked up "opthamologist's" on Google. An optometrist can test your eyes and vision, but an opthamologist can prescribe medications and perform surgery and diagnose problems with the eyes. I made an appointment with an opthamologist in Farmington and on January 6th I met with him for an eye exam.

I had a gut feeling from the start that it wasn't going to be a good appointment, the deterioration of my vision was just progressing too fast to be normal aging. I went through several tests with technicians in his office and eventually met with the opthamologist. As he examined my eyes through the high tech equipment he had an assistant with him that he was dictating the specifics of the exam to and she was taking the notes.

He was giving her a lot of information and numbers and reading that meant nothing to me on my right eye, then he went to the left eye and continued his dictating. The first words as he peered into my left eye was "massive edema". I knew right away that didn't sound good. He went on for a few more minutes with the exam and then explained that he wanted to do more testing and I returned to the waiting room for the next test.

Thank goodness for smart phones and I started "googling" edema. I thought it meant a bruise or swelling and that is basically what I found on google, it means swelling.

Bottom line is I went through a few more tests, the most important one was a test where they inject yellow dye into my veins as a technician takes a rapid series of photos of the retina. Apparently the pictures show the vessels of the eye and where those vessels are leaking causing the swelling on the back of the retina.

My opthamologist then gave me the bad news. The official term is apparently called "macula edema", it is one of the side effects of diabetes, and according to what I found on the Internet, is the number one cause of adult blindness in American adults.

I was pretty much given three options. Do nothing and the odds were good I would be blind within a year. Undergo laser surgery and hopefully that would seal the vessels that were leaking and stop the progression of any damage. And number three just made me cringe, a series of steroid shots directly into the eyeball. I told the opthamologist to avoid number three at all costs, it just made me nauseous to think of a needle in the eye.

It is not very comforting to think about not having vision. To make the matter worse, the initial appointment was January 6th, the same day my father died 8 years ago. I left the doctor's office with my head spinning as to how my life would change if I lost my vision. We take a lot for granted, many things you would never think about in every day life. As an example, and I know it sounds trivial in the greater picture, but even things like signing a credit card receipt in a restaurant and filling out the tip.

The bottom line is that I had the laser surgery on my left eye last Friday. The opthamologist says that it could be three months before it is known whether it was successful or not. It will possibly take that long for the swelling of the back of the eye to go down, although he was hopefully optimistic and said worse case they could repeat the laser surgery and the steroid injections were still an option as a last resort.

I guess at a time like this you realize what needs to take priority and my vision is that priority. I apologize for the lack of postings but I fully intend to ramp that up again and I'll keep those interested in what I hope will be a very positive outcome as I face this problem.

I didn't share the information with a lot of people before the laser surgery, but for those who have called and offered support, I really appreciate it. The support of my friends has been very comforting, even as you think about the worse case scenario. To my closest friend Joe who knew when to get me out of the house and unwind and my mother who did what mother's do with her reassurance that everything would be ok, even as I knew it was taking its toll on her, it puts everything into perspective.

Other's called to offer to make sure my dog was walked or to offer rides or pick up food and prescriotions or just to offer reassurance that it would all work out. Thank you for your support.

Life goes on.