Search This Blog

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

JUST A THOUGHT

 
 
 
I am sure that the debate over the second amendment will become heated over the next few months.

The 2nd amendment to our Constitution reads as follows: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

What did our founding fathers have in mind? Did they ever envision Bushmaster rifles with 30 round clips and ammunition that is so devastating to human tissue, it would cause almost certain death when used, especially when used against a 6 year old child?

Is it time to return to what our founding fathers had in mind for self protection and allow Americans to own single shot muskets and black powder pistols? There is no place in any American home for a Bushmaster Assault rifle and as with most laws it is about the "intent" of the legislation and typically not the convoluted extreme result that many times occurs when extremists push the wording to the limit.

It also comes down to personal responsibility. It is extremely troubling to hear about a mentally disturbed individual  who was able to essentially shoplift assault rifles from an East Windsor gun store this past weekend. Were these weapons left around with the same level of security as DVD's at Walmart?

Shouldn't a responsible gun shop have these weapons properly secured in locked cases or at least some sort of cable run through them so that a crazed individual can't walk out with ammunition and an assault rifle in hand to wreak havoc on another town?Severe penalties should be invoked for any person that carelessly allows weapons to get into the wrong hands.

Something needs to change, this wasn't what or forefathers intended.The weapon pictured above has no place in any home

THANK YOU GOVERNOR MALLOY, LT GOVERNOR WYMAN

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend a couple moments with Governor Malloy as he returned to his Capitol Office from Newtown.  He was definitely not his usual upbeat personality, and his signature green necktie had been replaced by a black tie of mourning. I thanked both the Governor and the Lt Governor for the way they were handling the Newtown massacre with sincerity and genuineness. No politics, no grandstanding.

I think anyone can be a politician, but there are not a lot of politicians that can step up and be real leaders during a time of crisis. It is easy as a politician to search out the closest television camera crew or make sure that your photo is taken for face book as you lay down a bouquet of flowers at a memorial. That's what politicians do.

Leaders do what needs to be done, and I think they do it more out of instinct rather than through any previous training. I don't think anyone could have prepared Governor Malloy for the task of having to tell 20 parents that there children were lying dead in the corner of a classroom, shot multiple times.

The morning new shows this morning were running stories that apparently claims were being made that family members of victims were possibly upset that Governor Malloy  was "insensitive" in the way he notified them that their loved ones were dead. I'm just wondering how you can possibly be more sensitive in notifying a family that their 6 year old child was dead?

No politician ever runs for office expecting to have to undertake the task of sensitively explaining the actions of a madman with an assault rifle killing innocent children. And I would venture to say that very few of our politicians are up to the task of doing it.

As Governor Malloy explained yesterday at a Capitol  press conference, if he had adhered to the "normal " process, it could have taken days for the official word and list of the deceased. Malloy felt that was wrong and expedited the process to give all parents  official word of the news that no parent wanted to receive as quickly as possible. To do otherwise "would  be wrong" according to the Governor as tears streamed down his cheeks and his voice  not coming easily.

The Governor, with Lt Governor Wyman by his side, has faced a couple months of tragedy that has been unprecedented in decades in our State. Hurricane Sandy's devastation by Mother nature and the Sandy Creek devastation by another human being.

No matter what your political views or political affiliation you have to admit these are difficult times that no elected official looks forward to having to deal with, the evaluation of their leadership is how they respond. You can visibly see the toll these actions take on Malloy and Wyman and I for one am very appreciative of their actions.

I can only think back to my time in High School when our Governor Thomas Meskill was out of state on vacation skiing while much of the State was without power after Ice Storm Felix and then the other story of Ella Grasso getting out of her limo and walking to the Capitol during a blizzard to lead our state during a crisis.

Leadership takes all forms, and I am glad we have this Governor on the 2nd floor at times like this

Saturday, December 15, 2012

HARTFORD HAS HEART, FUNERAL RELIEF FUND BEING ESTABLISHED

I think most of us wandered around Friday afternoon with a sense of helplessness and asking why? The Sandy Hook shootings were something even we aren't used to or prepared for as City residents. We see a lot here, but nothing can make sense of 20 young children massacred in a spot they should be able to feel safe as in their own homes with their parents

As Governor Malloy said"Evil visited Newtown today". When I heard that there was going to be a vigil in Bushnell, I knew I couldn't sit home. I got there early and I was never more proud of our City residents as a couple hundred people began filling the park.

The big question with most people was "how can we help?" "what can we do?".9-11 brought out similar feelings in most of us, but those were adults who had lived a good portion of their lives already, these were children gunned down by a man who can only be described as evil and mentally ill. You can only imagine the fear on their faces as what they probably thought was a friendly visitor to their classroom, executed them one by one.

As I talked to people at the vigil, I thought that most parents, especially in this economy, probably didn't have life insurance on a 6 year old child. Parents who are under the stress and pressure of just having their children murdered shouldn't now have to face the stress of figuring out how to pay for the funerals.

The first thing this morning I spoke with Hartford Police detective Claudette Kosinski who is also on the Board of Directors of the Hartford Police Federal Credit Union. I explained to her I wanted to set up a fund to collect donations to provide help to the families of the victims. She readily agreed and said she would contact the Credit Union Director to see what was involved. On Monday we plan on setting up the Bank Account to accept donations. Once the account is set up, I will set up a pay pal account to accept donations online.

If you see fit , I would ask that you consider mailing a donation to Newtown Victim Relief  c/o the Hartford Police Federal Credit Union, 50 Jennings Road, Hartford, CT 06120. All donations received will go to assist victim families

Thursday, December 13, 2012

PAY THOSE PARKING TICKETS

 
 
For anyone unaware, the Hartford Parking Authority has stepped up their efforts this past year to collect parking fines. Uncollected revenue from parking tickets in Hartford has been a problem for years, but apparently the Parking Authority has gone high-tech..

The Authority is now using "plate reader technology" which are cameras attached to a vehicle that patrols the city scanning thousands of license plates per hour. The cameras attached to a computer database identify vehicles with unpaid fines. Vehicles with as little as $300.00 in tickets are being impounded and towed to collect the fines. The days of accruing thousands of dollars in unpaid fines seem to be gone.

If you would like to check to see if you have tickets or to pay a fine, you can go to hartfordparking.com or visit the Parking Authority at Hartford Parking Authority Administrative Office 155 Morgan Street Hartford, CT 06103 Phone (860) 527-7275 Fax (860) 549-7275 Office Hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

And apparently no one is exempt from the enforcement, word is that a Hartford police Officer Tracie Green had her car impounded and towed last week as a "parking scofflaw" after her vehicle was identified as having over $550.00 in unpaid fines.

If your vehicle is towed as a "scofflaw" you are also responsible for the towing and storage fees in addition to the outstanding fines

Saturday, December 1, 2012

THEY NEED A MARKETING DIRECTOR MORE THAN A PIO

I know , and will readily admit, that I am part of the problem here when it comes to putting out information about the Hartford Police Department. That is probably because  a lot of the calls I get relate to negative occurrences involving officers or other matters.

Before the comments start flying, I will also say that I try to put out the positive info when I get it.

For anyone that attended the promotion ceremony yesterday, it had to be excitingly obvious that Chief Rovella and his officers are doing something right and the ball is in his court now to keep that momentum going. I have attended a lot of promotion ceremonies over the years and I have to say that yesterday was the best attended that I have ever seen.

 The atrium was full and it was shoulder to shoulder standing room only at the railings on the 2nd and 3rd floors. I think part of it was that Chief Rovella's choices for Deputy Chief's were extremely popular with the rank and file , who showed up to support the new Chief's. There were also many members of the public as well as HPD retirees that showed up to share the sense of optimism that they are feeling in Chief Rovella's vision. He has made tremendous progress in a short period of time and he doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.

 
photo above from Steve Goode  of the Hartford Courant, twitter posting
 
 
As visitors entered City Hall they were treated to a symbolic part of that vision. Three brand new black and white police cruisers were parked at the steps of City Hall, looking like the Christmas display's at Macy's when they highlight their best merchandise at their doorsteps to draw customers in. The cruiser display was the buzz among most people waiting for the new Chief's to march in.

I don't know if itwas planned for the effect it got, but that is exactly what HPD needs to continue doing on a daily basis. There many good things going on that would help build better relationships between the Police and the community, if only the word got out.

I was going shopping at B.J.'s Saturday and when I got off the Flatbush Avenue exit , I saw flashing police lights in front of Walmart. Being nosy, I drove into the lot  to see the HPD Hummer parked at the entrance loaded with toys , rather than another crime incident .It was members of the Hispanic Officer's Association and the HPD Guardians , two fraternal organizations for Black and Hispanic Officers ,conducting a Toy Drive for Hartford's children.

When I dropped of a few toys on my return back from BJ's, one of the officers expressed her displeasure to me when I asked for  details and told me they are doing good things all the time and no one ever knows or hears about it. She told me how they served a couple hundred Thanksgiving Dinners to Hartford residents that would otherwise have gone without the meal on Thanksgiving Day.

As a sidenote, the Toy Drive will continue in front of Walmart tomorrow and next weekend also. Tomorrow the HPD mounted unit will have the horses there also for people to see.. Unwrapped toys will  gladly be accepted.

Now back to the marketing. Have any of you heard about the "Faith Based Initiative" that is being developed under the direction of Chief Rovella and  members of the Hartford City Council? Probably not since no one from the media has covered it, but I have to also say they may not have been invited. The Faith Based Initiative is a simple idea that will probably produce huge results down the road.

In a snapshot, it is trying to gets Hartford's Churches and members to take ownership for a small area around their buildings and neighborhoods, both to victims of violence and potential problem youth.. Chief Rovella frequently refers to the "moral compass" of Hartford's Youth and keeping that compass in line. That is where the Church communities will come into play in identifying potential problems and provide the mentoring and support to break the cycle of violence in Hartford's neighborhoods hopefully. I have attended all three planning meetings and it is a great group with some solid ideas that need to now be put into action.

I know I am oversimplifying it, but it is something that shows Hartford can turn it's problems around with solid partnerships, but people need to know what is going on so they can support it and get involved. At the last meeting hosted by the Archdiocese of Hartford at Saint Thomas Seminary, I half jokingly mentioned that there was no media present to cover the planning session, but if someone got shot all the live trucks would be there immediately to cover it.

Has anyone heard about Chief Rovella's Domestic Violence initiative that starts Monday? Probably not because there has been no coverage that I am aware of. Again a basic idea, but Domestic Violence calls eat up a huge amount of HPD resources. And paraphrasing here and not speaking for Chief Rovella, the way it has been explained to me is that it is about breaking the cycle of domestic violence in Hartford's families.

I think the focus is going to be working with youth and the victims of domestic violence to keep the next generation of adults from feeling domestic violence is acceptable because they grew up seeing it.
Four detectives are being reassigned as of Monday to begin the initiative in an attempt to curb Hartford's incidents of domestic violence.

I know the media plays a huge role in the negative sensationalism coverage that Hartford gets. Yellow crime scene tape and bodies in the street draw more viewers an sell more papers than toys for children being loaded in a cruiser. A police officer stealing lobsters gets far more attention and comments than 5 positive promotions to Deputy Chief, but that is where marketing and relationships  need to come into play.

Churning out press releases won't dot it alone. Someone needs to have the guts to lay down the gauntlet to the media. If you are going to call when you want the negative information, you better take the call and produce results when HPD wants the positive information put out also. It needs to be a two way street, beneficial to both sides.

I think the goodwill is running high right now and now is the time to take advantage. With violent crime and homicide stats possibly being the lowest they have been in 30 years, the message needs to get to our media partners that HPD is moving, not just into a new building but in a new direction.

Next Saturday, December 8th, the next meeting of the Faith Based Initiative planners will be hosted by Trinity Episcopal Church at 120 Sigourney Street from 9:00am until noon, let's see if there is any media coverage and which outlets are willing to jump on the good news also.

Friday, November 30, 2012

WE KNEW IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN

After hob nobbing with the likes of Ricky Martin and Shakira, it was bound to happen. Hartford's Mayor Pedro Segarra has gone Hollywood in the latest version of Gangham Style.

Word is that Segarra now needs police protection when he is out in public due to his superstar status.


Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!