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Monday, February 29, 2016

FROM THE OFFICE OF MAYOR BRONIN

FIRE CHIEF, ASSISTANT CHIEFS TO BE SWORN IN AT PROMOTIONAL CEREMONY
 
— MEDIA ADVISORY —

(February 29, 2016) Fire Chief Reginald D. Freeman, who was recently appointed by Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, Assistant Fire Chief of Support Services Frank Costello, and Assistant Chief of Emergency Services Darren Hudson will be sworn in Friday, March 4, 2016 during a ceremony at M.D. Fox Elementary School Auditorium. The ceremony will also honor the accomplishments and hard work of 21 Firefighters promoted to Pump Operator, Ladder Driver, Lieutenant, Captain, and Deputy Chief. The event is open to the public and will begin promptly at 6 p.m. 

WHO: Mayor Luke Bronin, Fire Chief Reginald Freeman
WHAT: Swearing-in and promotional ceremony
WHEN: Friday, March 4; 6 p.m.
WHERE: M.D. Fox School Auditorium, 470 Maple Avenue, Hartford

AN HOUR WITH HARTFORD'S NEW FIRE CHIEF, REGGIE FREEMAN

Today our guest on "We the People" was Hartford's newly appointed Fire Chief. Reggie Freeman. Less than a month on the job as the Chief, we talked about his vision and the leadership he is providing to the HFD, the future and his goals .

One of Chief Freeman's first steps after taking office was to restore some of the tradition to a proud Fire Department. He visited all firehouse and tried to meet and listen to firefighter's as their Chief. I think that was appreciated  as indicated by the text below, that I received after his first day here, from one of his firefighters.
Another move was to highlight the proud history of HFD by taking the pictures of all the past Chief's out of storage so they could be hung on the hallways in Fire Headquarters.

And finally, one of the little things that is very symbolic, was the return of the 1-HFD license plate to the Chief's City vehicle. I could never understand the need for previous Chief's to operate undercover with regular plates. The Chief should be proud of his position and not be ashamed to be identified (unless the vehicle is somewhere it shouldn't be)
Click on the program below to watch our interview with Chief Freeman, feel free to comment.


Sunday, February 28, 2016

POLICE LIVES MATTER ALSO

This is just such a tragic story.

I don't think we appreciate the danger our Police Officers place themselves in every day to protect us.

Many police officers have been gunned down already this year, but this one is a glaring example of the dangers they face. Ashley Guindon was murdered in her first day on the job after completing her service in the United States Marine Corps.

The irony is that she was probably in much more danger during her military deployments , but she came back home to continue her public service and was murdered in an affluent suburb of $500,000 homes during a reported domestic disturbance.

Please keep our first responders in your thoughts and prayers and also remember those officers in Virginia and across the country that have been wounded and are recovering from shootings

. There is also a local aspect to this killing. The West Springfield Massachusetts Police are with heavy hearts today after learning of the fatal shooting of Police Officer Ashley Guindon on her first night of duty. Ashley is the niece of West Springfield Police Detective Thomas Guindon.

..WOODBRIDGE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia police officer was shot and killed Saturday on her first day back with her department after being sworn in, and two of her colleagues were wounded in a confrontation stemming from a call about an argument.
A county leader said a civilian woman was also killed in the domestic dispute.
Officers received a call around 5:30 Saturday evening in Woodbridge, about 30 miles southwest of the nation's capital, about a "verbal argument," Sgt. Jonathan Perok, spokesman of the Prince William County Police Department, said. It's not clear how the altercation between the suspect and police began but the suspect, a military serviceman, is in custody and was not injured, he said. The condition of the other two officers is not known.
The department announced on its Facebook page that Officer Ashley Guindon had died from the injuries she sustained in the shooting.
A picture of Guindon was posted to the department's Twitter page on Friday with a tweet that read, "Welcome Officers Steven Kendall & Ashley Guindon who were sworn in today & begin their shifts this weekend. Be Safe!" It is not known if the other officer in the tweet was involved in the shooting incident.
Guindon had been a county police officer a few years ago and had left and returned to the force, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press Saturday night. He did not know the exact dates of when she started and left, he said.
Another woman was killed in the domestic call and was dead before police arrived, Stewart said, but police declined to confirm that information. Stewart also said there was a child in the house during the incident who was not harmed.
Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert told The Associated Press Saturday night that he has authorized a capital murder charge, along with other counts, against the suspect, who has not been identified.
At Inova Fairfax Hospital, where the three officers were flown by helicopter after the shooting, more than 100 patrol cars lined the roads outside early Sunday morning to stand vigil and escort Guindon's body to the medical examiner.
The shooting occurred in the Lake Ridge neighborhood, on a curving street with $500,000 suburban houses with brick and siding exteriors, manicured lawns and two-car garages about a five-minute drive from the county office building.
Until Saturday evening, the big news in the police department was the planned retirement of Chief Steve Hudson, who announced two weeks ago that he will step down at the end of March, and officers' plans to do a "polar bear" plunge on Saturday morning to raise money for Special Olympics.
Police said the incident is still being investigated.

The West Springfield Police are with heavy hearts today after learning of the fatal shooting of Ashley Guindon on her first night of duty. Ashley is the niece of West Springfield Police Detective Thomas Guindon.

THIS COULD HAVE ENDED BADLY, THANK YOU HPD

On Saturday, February 27th, 2016, at 2359 hours, Patrol Units were dispatched to the area of 50 Vine Street for a Shot Spotter activation (#76253) indicating three shots fired. HPD Dispatch also received citizen callers reporting shots fired in the same area.

As units arrived in the area, Traffic Officer Taylor observed a group of males in an alleyway, within close proximity of the Shot Spotter alert. When the group observed Officer Taylor, they immediately fled west towards Vine Street, at which point Officer Taylor pursued the group on foot. Several individuals were apprehended.

One in particular, Accused Jonathan Frater, was observed clenching his waistband, exhibiting signs of a person armed with a firearm . Officer Fogg began to pursue Frater south on Vine Street as other officers had stopped other individuals in the group. Officer Herrmann joined the foot chase with Officer Fogg at Albany Avenue at Burton Street.

Officer Herrmann was able to pursue Frater westbound over a fence, through rear yards, towards Sigourney Street. Frater fell then continued west from the rear of 398 Sigourney Street, where he was met by Officer Steinmetz. Officer Steinmetz ordered Frater to get on the ground which he did, and was taken into custody by Officers Herrmann, Steinmetz and Fogg.

Officer Herrmann went back to the area where he observed Frater fall on the ground after scaling a fence, and in the mud located a Smith & Wesson .32 caliber revolver.

Frater was transported to HPD Detention for booking and processing procedures. Frater was held on a $500,000.00 bond.

Accused; Frater, Jonathan, M/B/18 (08/21/1997), of 66 Deerfield Avenue, Hartford, CT.
Charges; Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm, Carrying a Pistol w/o a Permit, Reckless Endangerment 1st
Degree and Interfering w/ Police.
Firearm Seized; Smith & Wesson .32 caliber Revolver, s/n AT48038.

Great effort by all involved to take more illegal gun off of our streets

Saturday, February 27, 2016

ANGEL MORALES, YOU'RE FIRED




No, those aren't words from Donald Trump on the "Apprentice". Those are the words of Vincent Mauro  Jr., Chief of Staff to the Connecticut Senate Democrats advising Hartford political operative Angel Morales of his "involuntary termination" from his position as a clerk with the Connecticut Legislature in a letter dated June 15, 2015.

Sometime last spring, I had spoken with a downtown business owner who asked me if I knew a guy named Angel Morales . When I stated that I did, he related to me how Morales was shaking him down and explained that he ( Morales) worked for the State of Connecticut and that he (Morales ) could help him out with any liquor issues the business owner might be having.

He said Morales showed him some State Identification and also told him that he did entertainment promotions on the side. I guess the business owner originally agreed and then had second thoughts. When he told Morales that, Morales threatened to have his business shut down and apparently became very confrontational. I was told that another Hartford business  owner had the same situation with Morales. Morales was also allegedly bringing under - age young men into the second establishment  and the owner was concerned about having minors near alcohol in his establishment.

 The second business  owner also claimed to have found Morales in a storage room in a , let's just say compromising position with a young man and he apparently told Morales and the young man to get off his property..

I had told the first business owner that he should contact the State Capitol Police and make a complaint if he felt Morales was attempting to extort money from him for protection based upon his position at the Capitol.

A little hospital issue cropped up for me and I didn't follow up on the issue... until now.

It appears that one of the business owners did get in touch with the Office of Legislative Management and made a complaint. On May 5, 2015 Morales was issued a letter of disciplinary Action detailing the allegations against him. The letter speaks for itself .

The letter also details an allegation that Morales apparently deposited his Capitol paycheck through a TD Bank phone app and then apparently tried to get double the  amount by going to a check cashing service and cashing the actual check. As of Thursday, Legislative management was unaware if  Morales had made restitution to TD Bank or the check cashing service for the missing money.

It is also interesting that the last paragraph of the warning letter seems to urge Morales to get help through the Employee Assistance Program and they "strongly recommend hat you contact them if you feel they can help you ". That might be the best thing Morales could do.

Morales is also under investigation by the State of Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission for misuse of Citizen Elections fund money You can read more about that here in Jon Lender's recent Courant article .

It seems as though Morales's fraud knows no bounds. According to documents obtained through an FOI request. Morales applied for unemployment compensation after his termination claiming he was laid off  for "lack of work". The State chose not to contest the claim

For another "We the People " posting on Morales, click here. This was when I was involved with Morales's run for State Representative from the 4th District. Luckily I smartened up to his conman antics quickly before I got in too deep. This posting was also the subject of e-mails sent around the Capitol apparently warning about Morales, from documents provided me through an FOI request.

WHAT IS YOUR BRIGHT IDEA ?

Our City employees and residents are much more valuable than any consultant could ever be. We deal with issues in our neighborhoods every day and throughout City Government. I am pretty sure most of us have had a thought at one time or another "that is crazy the way that is done" and can think of more efficient ways to get things done.

As we head into , or maybe more appropriately , as we try to work our way out of very difficult budget times. Every dollar of savings counts. we might not find the million dollar fix, but all ideas will add up. 

Please feel free to leave your comments here and any thoughts for savings or any way to do business leaner and smarter for the City of Hartford

Comment away ,and please stay positive. And trust me, people that can make a difference are reading also. Let's be part of the solution.