The short and quick answer is yes.
Through an FOI request to HPD I had asked for documentation on any requests related to Police Staffing and the need to hire police officers in Hartford.
The responsive documents went back as far as 2013, when Chief James Rovella and his staff began raising the red flags for City Hall. The e-mails and documents from the request are rather voluminous, but they portray the scene of a Council and Mayor that should have been fully aware of the ramifications that drops in staffing would cause.
I guess it came down to priorities, and apparently shootings and homicides were not a priority. If only some of the money that was disbursed through apparent fraud for the Dillon Stadium project and the debt that has been and will continue to be incurred by the Yard Goats project had actually been put into priorities, imagine how different things might be. How many families would still be celebrating holidays and the lives of loved ones taken by crime?
It makes me wonder why we spend the money on a Police Chief and his Command Staff if the Council and Mayor choose to disregard his professional advice.
How many homicides could have been prevented if only Chief Rovella's proposal had been properly considered by Council President Wooden and Councilman Kennedy. If the money wasn't there for hiring, that is one thing. But if the money was there and instead funneled to sweetheart deals like Dillon Stadium, that is shameful, and may actually prove criminal as the Grand Jury results move forward.
The documents are voluminous, but they interesting reading and show the number of attempts by HPD to get City Hall to see the light and avoid the impending disaster of an understaffed Police Department. Its where we are today and we are now paying the price for inaction by our so called "leaders"
I can only hope the next City Council and Mayor pay attention to Chief Rovella's recommendations.
All that we are asking is give Peace a chance
For more on Police staffing, you can read the consultants report below
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