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Thursday, May 23, 2013

HPD INVESTIGATING SEXUAL ASSAULT OF WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT

Hartford Police spokesperson Lt Brian Foley has confirmed that the Departments Special Investigations Division (SID) is investigating the reported sexual assault of a West Middle School student.

The assault of the male student is reported to have occurred on or near the grounds of the Asylum Avenue School. The assault was also apparently recorded on video by the perpetrators. HPD is apparently also in possession of that video.

The investigation is ongoing at this time

Monday, May 20, 2013

IS HARTFORD REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT CRIME?

Word is that as the Hartford City Council tries to deliver its budget package, they may be considering up to a three million dollar cut to the Hartford Police Department budget.

At last Monday nights homicide scene on Blue Hills Avenue, I spoke with Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings and she asked me what it was going to take to stop these senseless killings. My answer was simple, properly fund the police Department to be able to do the work that needs to be done.

The problem is that most Concilmembers don't really understand what policing a City like Hartford really entails. Sure they go out for a few hours to ride around, but they get the VIP tour where the reality is the furthest thing from what is actually happening.

They have the misunderstanding that pensions are driven by overtime. They aren't. Pensions are driven by "PJ's" , private duty jobs that are essentially the money officers make working at construction sites, concerts, XL center events and so on. Those used to be very lucrative in determining pension payouts, but as of the latest HPD Union Contract they play a much smaller role in the calculation.

I also explained to Councilwoman Jennings that the thugs on our streets have as good, if not better , intelligence networks when it comes to policing Hartford. They know that the shooting task force is probably half of what it was at this time last year. I'm not giving away any secret information here, it is a reality. Remember this time last year , it seemed as though the Task Force was in the news almost every day for gun seizures and arrests. They just don't have the bodies out there that they had last year.

And keep in mind that Mayor Caviar and his reckless financial spending have made it almost impossible for anyone on the state level to take us seriously if we ask for financial help for police spending or additional resources.

I had a conversation with Mayor Segarra several months ago and I told him he needed to keep in mind that the reduction in violent crime he loves talking about didn't happen by luck. It came about as a result of manpower and dollars directed at a serious problem. It didn't happen by luck.

It just seems odd that we can keep taxing the resources of the police department budget and still consider cutting even more. A special events budget that is basically money just thrown out the window. We keep allowing events that haven't even paid their bills for the previous year, some of them such as the West Indian Day parade that cost upwards of $55,000 for a one day event. How much of that could be used for coverage of "hot spot" areas that drive Hartford's crime.

The Council gave away a half a million dollar's in a land deal to benefit SAMA, a half a million dollars that probably would have been better allocated to the Police Department budget. But then again, SAMA delivers votes to our politicians, HPD doesn't.

The annual rent for the Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park is now paid to the Friends of Elizabeth  Park rahter than to the City of Hartford to be used as revenue to fund things like the Police Department budget. But then again the Mayor's partner is on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Elizabeth Park, not HPD, so clearly the Friends need to be properly funded.

Hartford needs to reassess its priorities and pay attention to what really matters, and there can be no greater priority than providing a safe city and a realistic approach to crime.

Cut the dollars for all City take home cars, eliminate travel and frivolous expenditures collect the revenue the City is entitled to, essentially pay attention to business and run this City like a business, not a free for all Charity operation.

Under Cheif Rovella, it seems pretty clear that he is squeezing every budget dollar for maximum impact, realigning positions to be able to use officers for the maximum benefit to HPD and just being very budget conscious. Yes , a novel idea for a Department Head to actually pay attention to his budget, but any further cuts would be crippling.

To Councilwoman Jennings and the rest of the Hartford City Council , the first step in answering how do we stop the senseless violence, the answer is no more cuts to HPD.

THIS MUST BE A JOKE

I just finished reading the latest post on Courant.com's Cityline. I think it has to be a joke by Councilman Ken Kennedy. It has to be a joke because no one could possibly take his comments seriously.

Check out the posting here

Kennedy's allegiances to the Abe Giles family are no secret.The Democratic Registrar,Olga Iris Vazquez is the daughter in-law of the late Abe Giles

Kennedy is definitely out of touch if he can honestly say".“She’s the one who does the most work,” Kennedy said.

The fact of the matter is that Vazquez has cot the City tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees for poor decision making and violations of State law that landed the City of Hartford in Court on several occasions. She has also proven herself to be one of the most incompetent Department heads in Hartford City Hall, and that is saying a lot when you consider the operations of City Hall. The Registars Office has shown itself to be unable to operate within its allotted budget and has had to go back to the Council for additional appropriations to cover their overspending.

Kennedy's attempt to protect the last bastion of Democratic patronage in City Hall I guess should be expected, but as an attorney he should think this out a little more. The Republican Registrar position is required by State statute and the Working Family Registrar obtained her position through a loophole in State law. None the lesss, they are both legally filled and to attempt to protect one party at the detriment of others is discriminatory and would surely put the City in a courtroom defending Kennedy's actions.

In addition, I think Councilman Kennedy might want to reconsider his quote"“She’s the one who does the most work,”. I think if Mr. Kennedy actually looked at the number of new registered voters, he would find that the Working Families Registrar Urania Petit is leading the pack when it comes to outreach and registration. Petit routinely runs training classes for immigrants attempting to become US Citizens and getting them to be able to register as voters.

Kennedy's recommendations are poorly thought out and probably not even legal. The registrars Office has been a financial black hole when it comes to the City budget and needs some revamping, especially the salaries paid for the three  deputy registrars, not to mention the salaries for "consultants" that are doled out every year at primary time and election time.

Make the cuts that truly will benefit the taxpayers and not those that will get us sued in Court

Friday, May 17, 2013

SPECIAL TREATMENT ?

 
If nothing else, you have to give Mayor Segarra's Chief of Staff   Jared Kupiec credit, he is a survivor. Most people would be on the unemployment line by now with this many stunts to their credit. The big question on the minds of many is why.
 
Most people would be gone after one or two questionable incidents, but with Kupiec the hits keep coming and he still has a job. For someone as Segarra once told me "has his back" he sure seems to be drawing much attention to.Segarra.
 
The  caviar, the p-card abuse, the HPD gym power grab, and the list goes on.
 
Now one of the regions best investigative reporters, Jeff Cohen of WNPR seems to be digging his teeth into something that has been buzzing around City Hall for months.It seems that the Mayor's Chief of Staff  was involved in an accident that resulted in personal injury at the intersection of High and Allyn Street on January 20, 2013.
 
Many questions had arisen as to how the accident was handled, who was actually driving, Kupiec or the operator listed on the accident report and was alcohol involved. Now Cohen has verified at least one item  that was in question, was the right person found responsible for the accident.
 
 
.  It seems that after reviewing the accident report, HPD has reversed itself and found Kupiec's passenger, I mean operator number 2 at fault for causing the accident pictured above.
 
Even more interesting is the company Mr. Kupiec keeps. Apparently the person listed as operator 2 may have actually been a fugitive from justice at the time. Records indicate that there was a warrant for Nicole M. Pattavina for failure to appear related to charges from a DUI Accident in Palm Beach County Florida. It is unclear whether that warrant was still in effect at the time of the crash or if it had already been served
 
The DUI accident the charges related to had also caused personal injury as a result of Pattavina allegedly driving drunk.
 
 
The HPD Accident Report
 


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

DEJA VU

It looks like City Hall workers should get used to the familiar faces of Siate Inspectors at City Hall once again. After the Perez Grand Jury, many at 550 Main were on a first name basis with the friendly guys from Rocky Hill.(Hopefully the questions they are asking don't relate to you )

But what has been referred to as a "distraction" by the Mayor's Office, may actually be referred to soon as a criminal investigation if the Hartford City Council has their way.

Councilman David McDonald has introduced a resolution which has been placed on Monday's Agenda for consideration calling for the recent Audit report into City Credit Card use to be referred to the Office of the Chief State's Attorney for investigation.

Here is the resolution below:

GOING DOWNHILL FAST

This has been building to become a bad situation for the Segarra Administration. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone how poor choices seem to define the "legacy" for many politicians. In this case though the poor choices seem to continue everyday.

It wasn't just the choice to whip out the old city credit card to pay for the caviar on the City dime. It goes much beyond that to a pattern of bad choices. Most people wondered how Segarra's Chief of Staff was issued a City vehicle after his personal vehicle sat behind City hall for weeks on a couple flat tires , until it was finally towed away.

Once he was issued a City car by Segarra, his behavior with it became an issue. The vehicle, former Chief Daryl K. Roberts SUV that he turned in when he retired, was spotted by police officers zipping around the City "Code 3", lights and siren blaring, reportedly to get to Happy Hour on time. Segarra actually stepped up that time and the car was taken away, only to be replaced a short time later by a new SUV.

Kupiec is the first Chief of Staff that I can recall that has been issued a City Vehicle. I know John Bazzano and it pains me to say, Matt Hennessey never had one either

The fact that the Connecticut State Capitol almost goes to Defcon 4 when Kupiec enters the building should have been another red flag for Segarra. Nonetheless, he still appointed Kupiec as his Chief of Staff. It's never a good thing when your hand picked Chief of Staff had previously jumped ship as a trusted worker on Governor Malloy's campaign to go to his opponent Ned Lamonts camp. Not everyone has a short memory in the political game. Relationships matter.

The culmination of the road to disaster was the New Years Eve Dinner charges,.It was hardly the first indicator that poor judgement was an issue. The decision to accept a $20,000 raise when the City was , and is, heading for financial meltdown should have raised red flags. It wasn't going to go unnoticed and that raise alone is more than what many Hartford residents take home in a year.

The sense of entitlement by all of those close to Segarra is clearly evident. It is ironic that a short time ago at election time Segarra made a huge point that he was leaving his Mercedes at home and driving a Prius since Hartford was moving toward being a green city in everything from its cleaning supplies to the vehicle its Mayor was driving. Surprise, surprise, shortly after the election the Mayor went back to a brand new SUV and his entire "Cabinet" are now driving new SUV's. So much for election year examples.

Although much has been made about the New Years Eve Dinner, it is most likely the tip of the iceberg. Numerous charges for food and beverages on Kupiec's card are still undocumented as far as whether they were legit City business or frat boy wannabe social favors. The latter appears more likely due to the lack of documentation.

Also not a lot is being said about the $30,000 dollars that is unallocated or unsubstantiated from last years close of business according to the audit report. The fact that virtually all of the City travel was essentially unverified is a problem also. And sadly, if Segarra's chief of Staff and COO were minding the store, accountability would have been an every day thing, not a rush to provide documentation when the auditors came knocking.

The "slippery nipple" COO should have known better after her 2000 hit from the Courant for the exact same behavior. I guess we can give the Chief of Staff a little pass because he has never had a real job and this can be chalked up to on the job training. But maybe it is time that they look elsewhere besides Hartford City Hall for their OJT.Read more on the "slippery nipple" COO here

Pedro, how much more are you going to allow? Really, I think we all would like to know what your plan is to stop the bleeding. Did it really need to come to this?