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Wednesday, March 4, 2020

WILL IT BE MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL?

Hartford will never be able to advance and get out of its own way if the mindset at City Hall doesn't change.

Tonight, the Hartford City Council will be conducting interviews for the position of Town and City Clerk. The position was opened up on the recent retirement of John Bazzano as City Clerk.
 Bazzano was appointed City Clerk after the sudden tragic death of former City Clerk, Dan Carey.

The position of City clerk is one of the few political patronage jobs left in City hall, besides Council aides, which have no legitimate standards for hiring.

City clerk is an "appointment for life" made by a resolution from the City Council, and although the Council talks about "transparency", this selection process may be the furthest thing from transparent. The Council will be putting on a good show tonight as they pretend to interview three candidates. At least two of the interviewees are political hacks looking for their reward from the taxpayers of Hartford.

One, Noel Mcgregor, is a retired Hartford Police Officer. Mcgregor was also Democratic Town Chairman and close to the corrupt former Mayor Eddie Perez. McGregor has several highly questionable skeletons lurking in his closet that need to be examined to judge his credibility for the position of City Clerk.

First being is the circumstances under which he left HPD. The Internal Affairs reports may not still be available but there are still people that know the details and are willing to talk. One I spoke with today was very familiar with the allegations and evidence obtained  after Connecticut Natural Gas officials apparently made a claim that natural gas was allegedly being obtained illegally (stolen) after persons in McGregor's restaurant on Albany Avenue removed the gas meter and replaced the meter with a "straight pipe" to essentially steal gas for the restaurant by bypassing the meter. One person that spoke to me today stated that they were lucky there wasn't an explosion resulting from the shoddy job bypassing the meter.

Eventually Mcgregor's property became a subject of the Perez Grand Jury when it was discovered that a scheme was developed to over inflate the appraisal that the City of Hartford had obtained for the property as part of a redevelopment project in the Woodland Street/ Albany Avenue area. At one point investigators for the State's Attorney's office uncovered an e-mail detailing the scheme from Perez's Office with the comment "we need to make sure we take care of Noel".

Will the Hartford City Council now go out of their way and "take care of Noel" again ? They probably, will considering it is Hartford we are talking about here.

 The only serious contender being interviewed tonight, as far as I know, is Eric Lusa. Eric was in the Registrar of Voters office and moved to the City Clerks Office shortly after Bazzano took over. Lusa worked under Bazzano's supervision and mentorship for almost ten years and has shown a very competent work ethic and strong customer service skills in the Clerk's Office the entire time. I guess that will probably disqualify him because the last thing we want in City Hall are competent people that aren't puppets to the powers to be.

One other of Bazzano's former staffers Kelly Bilodeau would have been more than capable of assuming the reins, but she was driven out of City Hall a couple years ago with the nonsense. Bilodeau is now the Town Clerk in East Hampton

I doubt the powers to be at City Hall will pay attention to any of this or even do their due diligence before making their "appointment for life".

It is the Hartford way to take care of the political hacks at the expense of the taxpayers.

Monday, February 17, 2020

WHY IS H.P.D. AFRAID OF 29-17 ?



The City of Hartford has an ordinance on its books and has had this ordinance for some time. Essentially it gives the Police Chief in Hartford the authority to require police officers to be hired at any business, including bars , that are determined by the Chief of Police to be valid nuisance and a threat to Public Safety of the businesses "patrons, invitees, employees or the general Public.".

For some reason the HPD Administration seems to be afraid of enforcing this ordinance. There are several businesses, liquor establishments in particular, that are chronic problems when it comes to fights, shootings, stabbings and overall general violent crime. Club Majestic, the scene of Hartford's most recent homicide is a prime example. There have been numerous shootings, stabbings and assaults at Club Majestic in recent history. Yet, Club Majestic remains unscathed and continues to operate with immunity from HPD enforcement.

And make no mistake, Club Majestic is not alone in creating a public nuisance with the behavior of their clientele, These nuisances dot Hartford's neighborhoods, both North and South, East and West. The one thing they all seem to have in common is the owners that are more than willing to allow anyone in , willing to pay the price of admission and drinks. They even seem to ignore State liquor laws without any consequences. One patron shot at Club Majestic was, according to Police, a 19 year old "customer".

The solution to this behavior, apparently as shown by the HPD Administration  is to strip every available resource out of quieter neighborhoods to "babysit" the nuisance bars where the owners refuse to provide proper Security for their customers. They must be reading the articles on "evidenced based Policing"  and drinking the Texas Kool-Aid.

It is wrong to reassign Community Service Officers who should be patrolling the neighborhoods they have built relationships with to enhance the quality of life across the City. These officers, along with Patrol Officers are stripped out to sit in front of problem bars, while most neighborhoods receive far less coverage than they deserve on busy bar nights and weekends at the expense of other neighborhoods

Ordinance 29-17 should be used to force bar owners to maintain Public Safety in their establishments. The Police Chief has the power to do it and it will send a clear message to bar owners to clean up their acts before they have to pay HPD to do it.

It is a matter of Public Safety and the Police Chief can not be afraid to do his job while continuing to dance around the issue of violent crime endangering Hartford's neighborhoods. It is a handful of problem locations but they contribute greatly to Hartford's violent crime, both reality and perception.

A uniformed Police Officer at these problem locations will send a clear message to those entering to take the gun play elsewhere, we don't want it.


Ordinance 29 17  on Scribd

Sunday, February 16, 2020

HARTFORD NEEDS... AND DESERVES A FULL TIME MAYOR

Luke Bronin on the campaign trail in New Hampshire ( Courant photo)


I get tired of people that continually use Hartford and its residents as pawns in their complicated games of ego chess.

Hartford's Mayor Luke Bronin is one of the people that plays that game and thinks no one is smart enough or even cares enough to pay attention. But we do.

If you remember, shortly after his first election he went on the campaign circuit for failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. I think the Bronin's and the Malloy's had the moving vans reserved and backed up to the front door on election night, ready for their ascension back to Washington D.C. as a reward from Hillary. I am sure there was much anger from Luke and Sara when the results started rolling in and they realized they were stuck in Hartford. I am sure they never thought Donald Trump could win.

Since that didn't work out as planned, Luke came up with another scheme. He would ride the coat tails of his Capitol godfather Dan Malloy into the Governor's Office. I guess he didn't pay attention to the polls to realize how unpopular Governor Malloy was as he was leaving office.

Regardless, he spent months criss-crossing the State of Connecticut on his campaign efforts when he should have been focusing on the promises he made to the people of Hartford to get elected.

Hartford suffered while Luke ran, but what does that matter, he had his eyes set on a greater prize.

Well, that effort also flopped and Luke was once again stuck in Hartford.

Now at a time when opioid deaths are soaring in Hartford, Hartford School students are assaulting Administrators, violence in the schools is starting to boil over. That evidenced by this weeks stabbing of a student at the Hartford Schools latest showplace, Weaver High School. And lets not forget the gun violence that has given Hartford the proud distinction of the most violent City in Connecticut and most likely New England.

Much of those things are happening under the watch of Luke Bronin, but then again, it is hard to see those disasters when you are out on the campaign trail. Whether that campaign trail was for a failed Hillary, a failed run for wannabe Governor Bronin or now his long shot support for Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg . Bronin spent much of last week out of Hartford campaigning for Mayor Pete instead of staying in Hartford doing his job as Mayor Luke, the job he was elected for.

If nothing else, if by some fluke, Buttigieg is elected, I could probably resurrect the nickname of lying Luke. Does anyone else remember Bronin's campaign promise that he was happy in Hartford and had every intention of completing his four year term as Mayor?

I can picture the conversation now from a snowy café in Nashua , New Hampshire.

Bronin to Buttigieg, "When you get elected as President,Pete  where would I fit into your Administration ?You know I am up here in the cold campaigning for you when I should be focusing on my own mess in Hartford"

Hartford needs a Mayor that cares about Hartford and can honor his (or her) commitment to make Hartford a better place, not to ascend to the next rung on their ladder of political aspirations.

So far we have not seen that commitment from Luke Bronin to Hartford.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

IS IT REALLY ABOUT THE CHILDREN ?



I think we would all like to think that the number one function of the Hartford Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez is to protect and educate Hartford's children.  At least two recent moves by the Hartford BOE seem  to show that protection of children may be the furthest thing from the reality

One of Hartford's most productive programs for mentoring and nurturing Hartford's children is in jeopardy due to actions by the Superintendent.

One of the first moves made by former Hartford Police Chief James Rovella (now Public Safety Commissioner for the State of Connecticut)  when he took over at HPD several years ago was to rejuvenate the PAL program. Rovella modeled the program after the very successful Waterbury PAL program. Now retired Deputy Chief Neville Brooks was tasked with researching the Waterbury program, and those successes were built into Hartford's program.

Hartford PAL was rebuilt as a 501c3 non profit with an energetic Board of Directors to move the program forward. Under Rovella and the new Board, hundreds of Hartford's youth have had a very positive mentoring experience as well as very positive interactions with Hartford Police Officers and others while providing very positive character building.

I remember originally when Rovella was fighting to find and establish a permanent home for Pal, he had expressed his frustration to me  in trying to fight budget cuts that would threaten PAL, the Cadet program and the explorer program which essentially formed the basis for his future minority recruitment programs for HPD officers by working with the youth at an early age.

Chief Rovella  eventually was able to secure a home for the program in the old Quirk School at 85 Edwards Street. That building was on the western side of two buildings making up the school. The eastern side was eventually renovated and re branded as the Global Communications Academy.

The Hartford PAL program has been so successful that their Board of Directors was able to propose and secure $7.5 million in State funding for renovations to the PAL facility for the initial stage of improvements to the building.

PAL, in preparation for meeting their facility needs had worked out an arrangement with the Superintendent of Schools for temporary usage of  space in the Eastern school building, the recently renovated Global Communications Academy.

Now that the time has come to relocate the PAL Programs, the Superintendent has apparently reneged on her promise of space usage for PAL. This apparently came as a surprise to the PAL Board , who felt that they had been dealing with the Superintendent in good faith to protect the future of the program to continue serving Hartford's children.

The Superintendent apparently backed out on her promise to move forward another initiative that  also may prove to be shortsighted and harmful to Hartford's Children. The Superintendent and the BOE will be moving the Adult Education programs into the Global Communications Academy building soon.

This makes no sense to house the adult programs in a building for children. What protections will be put in place? Will full background checks now be required for any adult using the Adult Education programs? How will the facility be divided to make sure adults taking classes will not be interacting or in way have their behavior influencing the children entrusted to the buildings? Will there be separate bathroom and cafeteria facilities?

A check of HPD calls for service to the current Adult Education facility at 110 Washington Street will show that the program is not exempt from problems and those problems are not fitting for a school with children attending.

The PAL program is too valuable to Hartford's Youth for this to be allowed I don't want to paint Adult Education  users with too wide of a b rush, but if there is any interaction between adults and children, it is the responsibility of the BOE and the Superintendent to take every possible step to protect the children as well as finding temporary space to house the successful PAL program

I think the parents as well as the staff at Global would agree.

To l;earn  more about the Hartford PAL program , click here 
https://www.hartfordpal.org/



Thursday, January 16, 2020

AMATEUR HOUR WITH THE HARTFORD CITY COUNCIL

With the state of politics both nationally and locally, I think many of us are hoping for a glimmer of hope that some politicians actually realize why they are in Office.

Well, we can rule out the newly sworn in Hartford City Council for being able to look at the bigger picture. With all of the problems facing Hartford, apparently the Hartford City Council feels that the greatest problem facing them is being able to silence Former Minority Leader Wildaliz Bermudez. The City Council under the "leadership" (and I use that word loosely) of newly elected Council President Maly Rosado is already becoming mired in the quicksand of Hartford's party politics.

To waste time on the issue of Minority leadership shows that they just don't get it. The minority leadership position has no real value other than having the title on your name plaque. A good Council person can form and build consensus with or without the title to do what is best and needed for Hartford's people.

I am told that years ago, the late Nick Carbone played similar games with Bob Ludgin , also a former Councilman. When Ludgin's title was not recognized, Ludgin moved his "office" into the pay phone booth outside of the Council Chambers to show that he would function and do his job with or without the trappings of a ceremonial title. I think eventually Nick Carbone, who was a master of Hartford Politics negotiated a truce and the Council Business moved forward.

Today , I am told, Bermudez's reserved parking space at City Hall was also taken away from her. This is ridiculous and Council President Rosado needs to remedy this issue and stop the amateur gamesmanship and show that she really understands what leadership is about. If this behavior continues, Rosado's Presidency may start to mirror another Presidency that has been in the news as of late. It doesn't serve anyone , especially the residents of Hartford. Grow up and act like adults

Thursday, December 19, 2019

SO WHAT IS PLAN B?

A severe cold snap is upon us and there will most likely be more this winter. Last week the Office of Mayor Bronin announced the opening of a new/consolidated warming shelter at the former Milner School.

It seemed hopeful that at least Hartford's homeless would have a place to go other than under bridges and overpasses.

It was very disappointing last night to hear Hartford's Police dispatchers telling Patrol Officers over the HPD radio that as early as 10:30PM last night , the warming shelter was full and not accepting any new arrivals.

Is this the best Mayor Bronin and the City can do? I thought that school was a little bit bigger than that or is it that our homeless problem is bigger than that?

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

CITY OF HARTFORD ORDERED TO PAY UP FOR POLICE CONTRACT VIOLATIONS

The City of Hartford has been ordered to pay 5 Police Captains an estimated $100,000 dollars in back pay.

 The award resulted in the City's loss due to a grievance filed in October of 2018 by Hartford Police Union President John Szewczyk, Jr. on behalf of his membership, specifically the 5 recently promoted Captains.

 According to the union contract, Szewczyk claimed, that wording required the City to promote the five Captains at the time the vacancies actually became available due to retirements that started to occur almost as far back as March of 2017. The City failed to fill the positions, an apparent violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for over a year. The positions were actually filled on September 23, 2018 , when five Lieutenants were promoted to the rank of Captain.

The actual Arbitration Award decision is below.


Thursday, December 5, 2019

ALL ABOARD THE GREY GRANITE RAILROAD

Time for a Big Mack at the Farm

Is that the James Brothers before their next train hesist?


No, it is actually the The Cavanna Brothers, John (L) and Andy (R), and the Cavanna Family of South Glastonbury . 

They are are at it once again with the unveiling of the Grey Granite Railroad and their latest acquisition,
with  the arrival of “Mack”, a 1928 Vulcan Iron Works steam locomotive. Mack is a 0-4-0 wheel arrangement tank engine that is fired by coal. Mack carries 1,500 gallons of water in his saddle tank, weighs 82,000 pounds, is 13 feet tall, and is 28 feet long. The engine was built in 1928 at Vulcan Iron Works in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. The engine was then purchased by the Jeddo Coal Company, where it worked until it was retired in the early 50’s. Mack was later purchased by Gramling Locomotive Works, and underwent restoration from 2011 to 2017.
Mack will be under steam and running on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th. We will run on the 1,400 foot main section of rail laid at the Gray Granite Railroad located at Cavanna’s Farm: 80 Woodland Street, South Glastonbury, CT 06073.
We will be offering cab rides in “Mack” for 35 dollars. (Honestly, where else on earth can you ride in the cab of a working steam locomotive?) We may also offer the opportunity to run the engine from the engineer’s seat! Work boots, gloves and hearing protection are encouraged! And, if you’re riding, prepare to shovel coal!
The railroad will be open from 9 am into the evening. We will also have our Plymouth 35-ton locomotive on static display for kids to climb in, along with farm honey and “GGRR” apparel for sale. The farm will be open for Christmas trees, as well, and the crop is fantastic this year!
If anybody has questions, please reach out to John Cavanna at 860-398-8929. 

Stop by and check out their great selection of fresh grown, live, cut your own Christmas trees and experience the beauty of winter on a family owned farm that has been in the Cavanna family since 1903, raising several varieties of apples in their orchards, strwberries, maple syrup and of course Christmas trees.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

CLOSING FIREHOUSES?


No one can dispute that the Hartford Fire Department is rich in tradition. HFD has been part of many things that have resulted in huge changes to fire codes and regulations and the history of HFD.

The circus fire where many died, the fatal Hartford Hospital , the Greenwoods Nursing Home fire all resulted in changes to the way the City of Hartford as well as fire departments nationwide approach firefighting.

I think that is why the phone calls ramped up last night after word started getting out about the imminent closing of the Pearl Street firehouse. Although "firehouse" may be too general of a term.

I think most people think of a firehouse as that building down the street from their homes where that first fire engine responds from in case of a fire. The reality is that basic firefighting equipment is not housed at the Pearl Street firehouse for years. The only equipment garaged at Pearl Street is Tac 1, the heavy rescue truck, which responds to most incidents in  the City including accidents and structure fires. A district Chief or Tour Commander is also garaged at the Pearl Street building.

So to answer the questions , or fears, of downtown residents, there should be no delay or danger of longer response times to fires downtown . Currently, the closest responding fire apparatus for fires downtown will still be Engine ! from the South Green firehouse on Main Street or Engine 2 from the Main Street firehouse near Albany and Belden.

Hartford Fire Chief Reggie Freeman has been very transparent for several years with his plans to shutter the Pearl Street firehouse. Freeman has also been very open regarding the "deplorable" conditions of Hartford's Firehouses. Those conditions include rodent infestations, code violations, structural deficiencies as well as lacking gender specific locker and shower area and sleeping areas for both male and female firefighters.

The Pearl Street firehouse pretty much fits into all of those deficiencies above, and the construction of the Public Safety Complex a few years ago moved Hartford Fire Administration Offices out of the Pearl Street HQ and into a much more modern structure at 253 High Street. For some odd reason, there were no plans included in 253 High to accommodate fire apparatus and alleviate the money pit at Pearl Street. HFD dispatchers were housed for many years at Pearl Street, but they were moved into the 911 Dispatch Center many years ago.

The time has come to shut down the "garage" that houses Tac 1 on Pearl Street and use the money wasted in the upkeep and operation of thousands of  square footage  and should be put into repairing the deplorable conditions of Hartford's firehouses where out first responders live ,work and sleep everyday of the week.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

IS THIS THE BEST WE CAN DO ?

The newest resident at 253 High Street, in the HPD lobby

I think we have become pretty immune to the political rhetoric that spews from Hartford City Hall and the lips of "our" politicians. They all want to talk about homelessness and how they need more money to correct the problem, some of them even make good money for their organizations by benefiting off the homeless problem.

According to sources, a homeless female has taken up residence in the lobby of the Hartford Police Department for the last couple weeks.

She has apparently moved in with several pieces of luggage and has pizza delivered for her meals.

We need to do better than this. Now I know, that some homeless people don't want to accept any help, but the lobby of a public building is not an acceptable alternative , especially when we have so many buildings sitting empty that could be used.

As an example , the Hartford YMCA still sits empty to this day after we fell for a grand proposal for the property that never happened.

There needs to be an effort for  more dignity for all of our citizens.

Monday, November 25, 2019

LONG OVERDUE

Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy


This mornings special meeting by the Criminal Justice Commission  into the performance, or more accurately the lack of performance , by Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy is long overdue. 

Gail Hardy's failure to perform her job points out several problems. The main one being that even though there is a Chief States Attorney, the individual States Attorney's for the Geographical Areas, really don't answer to the Chief States Attorney, and the Chief SA has no direct supervisory accountability or responsibility for them. 

Gail Hardy's failure to complete mandated Police Use of Force investigations brought this issue to light. Some of the cases that have been sitting on Gail Hardy's desk collecting dust for almost a decade, according to documents received from the Connecticut State Police pursuant to an FOI request.

There is no excuse for that. 

The system to have State's attorneys investigate Use of Force allegations was created to build the Public's trust in the credibility of these incidents. Gail Hardy's actions have done the total opposite.

Instead of people having confidence in the reports, whether good or bad, they must now be suspect. 

Most of these incidents appear to be justified, but the delay will only raise more questions. Officers involved in these incidents, as well as the families of  the "victims" deserve a timely conclusion.

To conduct an investigation and then potentially conclude that the actions of an officer were unjustified but the statute of limitations for any accountability has expired will not lead to any greater trust of a system that is often called into question.

It is not fair to the public or the officer's and agencies involved for that cloud of question to remain over the incident for potentially years without Hardy's reports being completed.

Gail Hardy has shown for years that she is out of touch with the communities she serves and continually refuses to accept invitations to community meetings  to interact with the public.

The Legislature needs to look at correcting this antiquated, broken system of States Attorneys  and bring us into the current day Judicial processes that work much better in other states and provide better accountability to the system of Prosecutor's in Connecticut

Sunday, November 3, 2019

TIME TO THINK ABOUT A QUOTE FROM PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

It is widely acknowledged that one question from Candidate Ronald Reagan turned the course of Jimmy Carter's re-election bid in 1980.

The Presidential campaign was capped by only one debate between the two candidates. Many polls showed a dead heat between the two Presidential candidates. During that debate, Republican Ronald Reagan sealed the fate of that election and the future of Jimmy Carter with one simple question to voters.

Reagan asked "are you better off than you were four years ago?" That was all it took.

Hopefully this Tuesday as Registered voters in Hartford prepare to vote, they can ask themselves the same question.

Are our streets any better than four years ago as Luke Bronin promised they would be? Definitely not. Hartford repair garages and body shops are still reaping the benefits of our streets every
time they re-align another front end victimized by our canyon sized potholes.

Resurfacing City streets this summer was almost nonexistent with the exceptions of a handful of streets, far short of the milling and paving we usually see every summer-

Is trash on our streets and bulky waste piled at the curbs any better, as Candidate Bronin had promised in 2015? Nope. The rats love the furniture and mattresses thrown at the curbs, they make for some great rat harborages. The overflowing dumpsters that are never inspected or cited at many apartment complexes and businesses are loved by the rats also, it grows their families big and strong.

And I think the rat inspectors and additional housing inspectors we keep hearing are coming must have gotten lost or are broken down after hitting a pothole.

Do you feel safer in your neighborhoods than you were four years ago when Pedro Segarra was leaving Office and as Candidate Bronin promised? The reality is you are not any safer.  As of today, Hartford's homicide rate is 67% ahead of 2017, and the year still has a ways to go, so we can add more.  Shootings are almost an every day occurrence. Shots fired from illegal gun activity are almost an hourly occurrence and two more people were shot on the streets of Hartford  last night.

Our schools are still a mess, even though the Mayor appoints the Majority of the Board of Education , He often ducks the issue of failing schools by saying he has no control over the BOE. Isn't that convenient.

Hartford's finances are still a mess despite the State of Connecticut bailout. Actually, Bronin tries to make it sound like he did a great job of arm twisting at the Capitol to get the bailout. What he should be calling it is the first installment on the past due bill the State owes us for underpaid P.I.L.O.T. funds.  But chances are good we will be revisiting this issue in a couple years, probably before the term of the next Mayor ends.

And that basaball stadium deal? Yes, it opened but it is still a drain of $5 to 6 Million dollars a year on the City budget for debt service payments.

Is the toxic environment of City employment gotten any better in the last four years? Definitely not. Instances of attempted suicides, actual suicides , numerous CHRO complaints filed against the Police Department and other City Departments are keeping some politically connected law firms profitable at the taxpayers expense. All due to mismanagement and lack of leadership or accountability by Bronin Department heads.. So no, that is no better than it was four years ago.

Those are probably enough examples to get you to honestly answer President Reagan's question as it pertains to Hartford.

But as you prepare to fill in that little bubble on your ballot, also keep in mind the general version of "insanity". Insanity is doing the same old thing and expecting a different result. I know Tuesday I am unwilling to settle for insanity, if we are honest with ourselves and really do care about the City many of us claim to love.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

WHEN DO WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

He wasn't "unavailable" then



This week has been an extremely violent week, but actually there have been plenty of violent weeks since Luke Bronin has been Mayor, and plenty of violent weeks during the tenure of Interim Chief Jason Thody.

Lets do a quick flashback for a second to 2015. That is the year Luke Bronin showed up on the scene to challenge Mayor Pedro Segarra. Most people in Hartford had never heard of Luke Bronin and most would never recognize him, but Bronin proved you could buy an awful lot with a million dollars. You could buy both name recognition and the Hartford Mayor's Office.

Now Pedro Segarra was a nice guy, but a terrible Mayor. I think many people, A/K/A Hartford's political insiders figured out quickly Segarra was more of a Social worker than a solid leader and they were able to steamroll him for their own needs and Segarra produced lackluster results.

Bronin's arrival on the political scene coincided with a very violent pre-election summer. Bronin quickly capitalized on that violence and made political hay from the dead bodies piling up due to gunfire and violence.Segarra was slow to make changes, especially in the Hartford Police Department. HPD was without a permanent Chief at the time. Segarra wasted months selecting a Chief and at one point he conducted an expensive national search spending upwards of $75,000 only to appoint Chief Jim Rovella as the right choice for Hartford's Police Chief.( Not only the right choice, but a great choice)

Bronin capitalized on all of that, especially the dead bodies of homicide victims, making it point to have the Television cameras in tow as he went to vigils and visited the survivors homes of the homicide victims. It worked, he promised to make Hartford a safer City and he was elected as Mayor. And it only cost a little over a million dollars.

I remember the day Bronin showed at at a playground on Cornwall street to use  the prop of a deadbody lying on a basketball court, the man shot in the head during a basketball tournament, to capitalize on the corpse 50 yards away to convince us why we needed change and oust Segarra. What has changed except the Mayors ?   Let me answer my own question...nothing

But, as Eddie Perez's corruption trial revealed the "Gospel of Perez", the felonious Mayor's staff had put together a PowerPoint display to build Eddie's little corrupt empire, or so he hoped. One of the slides stated "Voters in Hartford have very short memories". That is never truer than right now.

I was disgusted yesterday by media accounts that when they tried to approach Luke Bronin for comment on Thursdays street shootout and the killing of 71 year old Grandmother Yvonne Smith, Bronin was conveniently "unavailable" Of course he was unavailable he doesn't want to have to answer for his "efforts" or more appropriately his failures and broken promises.

He doesn't want to have to answer for his revolving door of Department Heads at City Hall and the lack of stability in his Administration. The only Department head who has remained I believe is Fire Chief Reggie Freeman. All other Departments have numerous turnover in Department Heads, including HPD. DPW went without a permanent head for months, actually well over a year, because Bronin was able to use the Fire Chief as an acting DPW Director Luckily Freeman was able to do both , and surprisingly both Departments functioned well, no thanks to Bronin. MHIS, the City's IT Department has been without a permanent director for years.  It is only the City's computers and technology, why should we be concerned about that being managed properly by a permanent Department head?

I think Luke Bronin has a higher turnover rate in his Administration than the Trump Administration, seriously.

It is only the City's computers and technology, why should we be concerned about that being managed properly?

And while Bronin was "unavailable" for comment on the violence this week, his Police Chief was lounging in Chicago at a conference. As the Mayor of a violent City that just experienced a tragedy and several shootings in a 24 hour period, I would think if I was in Bronin's position I would see the value in telling my Police Chief, his presence in the City to maintain calm and hopefully instill confidence and leadership was more important than hobnobbing in Chicago with other Police Chiefs.

But that would take leadership on Bronin's part,

And I am not sure anyone  should believe Bronin's promises that if elected he will serve out the full 4 years of his second term. This is the same guy that was willing to take almost a year off from his full time job as Hartford's elected Mayor to zig-zag across the State in his failed bid to be Connecticut's Governor. How much could have been accomplished during that year if actually focused on the job the taxpayers were paying him to perform. Did he ever offer to give back the salary for the time he was being paid to run Hartford and he wasn't? I never heard that offer being mad.
Bronin

Does anyone really believe that if John Larson  or (oh please God please) Richard Blumenthal announced  their retirements next spring that Luke Bronin wouldn't be the first one in line to get those positions., despite his promise to the people of Hartford.

Hell, Luke Bronin can't even tell us  the truth about where he is living now, why should we believe anything he says.

Enough is enough, as a City we deserve so much better and not be accepting  the highest bidder for our voting rights.


Friday, October 25, 2019

VIGIL FOR YVONNE SMITH TOMORROW

YVONNE SMITH

 I normally don't do this, but this vigil is of special importane  due to the nature of this senseless act and the purely innocent victim who died. Please attend if you can to shpw support for Yvonne's family and as a community to let our Mayor and Councilpeople that we are fed up with the nonsense on our streets

Mothers United Against Violence will conduct a Candlelight Vigil on Saturday, October 26th, at 4:00 pm, at Garden & Nelson Streets, Hartford, where the life of Yvonne Smith, 71, was taken by being hit by a car driven by a youth fleeing a gun fight in the streets.
For the family, this is a loss like the loss of the life of any family member.
Yvonne has been recognized by many as "a guardian of the neighborhood" and spent most of her life in Hartford and never wanted to be anywhere else. So for her, the family is asking for help to make the streets safer.
All who want to do that should feel welcomed to be part of the human presence trying to bring calm to the community and be strengthened by taking part in this vigil.
--

THE PERFECT STORM



The perfect storm.That is how Hartford Police Officer Dom Agostino described yesterdays events on Westland Street. Officer Agostino called me this morning to describe his actions to me after numerous comments had been made on this Blog critiquing his actions during the incident.

I have never met Agostino, but I was aware of who he was due to an Internal Affairs investigation regarding him from several years ago.  That may have been a bad start when I began hearing he was the officer who first arrived  on Westland Street yesterday to an active shooter scene.

Agostino asked if he could talk to me and address his response. Since I( am still trying to unravel the situation in my own mind, combined with the numerous phone calls I have received with all  of the different theories and scenarios as to how it should have been handled in a perfect situation.

The problem is nothing about yesterdays incident was routine or complying with any Academy role playing scenario.

Agostino seemed to be troubled by all of the events, but then again, who wouldn't be. He said he hadn't been able to get much sleep last night as the slow motion events kept playing over in his mind.

Agostino described it as the "perfect storm" for chaos. He heard the shots fired call, responded to the area and as he turned onto Westland street he saw two SUV's racing directly toward him. He said the front seat occupants of one car were wearing masks and one of the SUV's threw that car into reverse to elude him and backed up Westland Street. The scene was unraveling in split second timing at that point and Agostino was trying to comprehend everything in the greater picture and making sense of a senseless situation.

Agostino , driving forward up Westland St. was pursing the second shooting vehicle as it backed up the street quickly. At about the time he saw the grey car at the curb with two more shooters taking aim at the fleeing SUV. In a split second he saw the subsequent victim, later identified as Yvonne Smith, entering the street into the path of the fleeing car.

He explained the couple of seconds we can see in the video where he is stationary alongside the standing shooters. At that moment the fleeing vehicle hit Yvonne Smith and propelled her body into the air and through the intersection .Agostino recalls quickly looking from the flying body to the shooters along side him, trying to process what to do next. A situation hopefully none of us are ever in and having to witness and make those decisions and hopefully none of our trained police officer's have to either.

I know it is easy to criticize Agostino's actions, I did it myself. I am not sure even a computer or the best trained Police Officer could process the events that quickly and make the perfect decision. I had the  video on a computer screen and it took me several views to make sense of the silver vehicle by the curb and the two occupants going into their shooting stances and figuring all the threats out. Imagine a Police officer coming upon a wildly confusing situation unwinding in real time before your eyes and trying to control that situation perfectly while analyzing everything happening, trying to chase the suspects, not crash your cruiser, not get yourself shot and if you return fire not to injure any innocent bystanders out in the area. As you human brain is processing all of that information , you see a body hurled into the air by the fleeing car.

I am not sure even the fastest computer could analyze all of that information and come up with a perfect scenario in the quick time frame  that Agostino had to make the same conclusions .I am not sure it is necessary, but I would love to sit down in a room with people, or even a group of Police Officers and play the video for them and see how they would process their solutions and the "what if's". Hopefully this will be a learning tool for our Police Officers to prepare them for the next time a similar situation occurs. And sadly I think the next time will not be too far off unless we get a handle of the violence on our streets.

Finally, I think I did look at the video and drew conclusions as to the situation based upon my knowledge of previous incidents with Officer Agostino. This was a perfect storm situation and I am not sure even the most seasoned, well trained officer could have or should have acted differently. And I honestly pray that none of my police officer friends, or any police officer find themselves in similar situations.  And I don't think I have ever done this before or actually felt the need to do it, but to Officer Agostino, I apologize for judging your actions in the comfort of my computer screen hit play rewind and pause reviewing the video in slow motion, unlike what you were confronting in split second real time.

I appreciate your calling me and having the opportunity hear your version and your sincerity seemed to come through for me. I hope your department will help you and other officers dealing with similar situations to process these events properly.

Before we were done, I asked Officer Agostino a question and told him if he didn't want to answer me I understood. I asked him as the scene was unfolding, did he ever  stop to think or delay his response because of liability or what would happen if he fired back or even rammed the car with his cruiser . His response was a quick "No".

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A CITY OUT OF CONTROL

It is an election year so you aren't supposed to know this, but Hartford is out of control.

Last night was a very violent night in the Capitol City, shotspotter activations were constant, . Two people were shot in the area of South Green Park, another shooting victim showed up this morning at the hospital for treatment and told Police it happened in the area of South Green Park.

And now it continues on today.

A shootout occurred in the area of Garden and Westland Street. Numerous gunfire was reported. Most op the shootout was caught on the Hartford Police Department's C4 Command Center video.

As the shootout was occurring an HPD black and white cruiser came around the corner. Two vehicles were driving up the street apparently shooting at each other and at a 3rd vehicle at the curb , where that vehicles occupants were returning fire.

The first vehicle being chased continued past the police cruiser. the second vehicle following that one, threw their vehicle in reverse and backed up the street, past the car at the curb that was still firing at them.

What appears to be an innocent bystander trying to cross the street to get away from the gunfire is suddenly struck by the vehicle fleeing in reverse at high speed. She is launched and thrown through the air for approximately 100 feet. She also reportedly had a bullet wound to her head from what sources at the scene have told me. Her condition is unknown at this time, but I am being told unofficially it is not good.. Please keep her in your thoughts

It is also interesting from the video that the HPD Officer appears to continue driving and is not seen exiting from his cruiser or returning fire.

It is definitely, I am sure, an unnerving situation to come around a corner and find yourself in the middle of a firefight, What would the response be? Who knows.

But this is the reality of life in Hartford these days, And the reality is that innocent people are being killed as long as this continues.

We will have to see how transparent  HPD and City Hall are and if they have the courage to actually release the video of the real street life in Hartford. It is very disturbing video, but it is reality

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

INTERIM CHIEF THODY RESPONDS TO USE OF FORCE INVESTIGATION

After I posted this afternoon about the Investigation underway by the Hartford County State's Attorneys Office, the following statement was released by Interim Chief Jason Thody

HPD DETECTIVE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY STATE'S ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING HANDCUFFED SUSPECT

A veteran Hartford Police Detective is under investigation by the Hartford County States Attorney's Office  for an incident that may result in criminal charges against the Officer after allegedly assaulting a suspect who was under arrest and handcuffed.

UPDATED 3:00PM- The entire incident was properly documented according to a conversation I had by phone with Detective Pillai. The breakdown, from what sources have told me is the failure of the supervisor to properly document the incident and review the body cam footage, that is where the problem began. When the video came to light , HPD command staff felt it was best to go to an outside agency to review the matter and remove any suspicion or conflict of interest

FROM THE HARTFORD POLICE UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE REPORT:

On 5/22/19 at approximately 1309 hours, Detectives from the Vice & Narcotics division were conducting a narcotics investigation and warrant operation. The investigation led detectives to 577 Prospect Avenue, West Hartford.

 As officers attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop to effect an arrest, the suspect for the investigation, intentionally rammed into a police vehicle, eluding and evading the police stop. The suspect vehicle then fled from the rear parking lot, intentionally ramming into a surveillance vehicle being operated by a V&N Detective.

 Upon impact, the airbags deployed trapping the officer within the vehicle. A 10-0 was radio broadcast, with numerous units responding from all divisions, including Officers and medical providers from West Hartford. Due to the disabling damage, the suspect vehicle came to a stop on scene.  

NOTE: a "10-0" IS HPD RADIO CODE FOR OFFICER IN TROUBLE, NEEDS ASSISTANCE  AND REQUIRES A MANDATORY RESPONSE FROM ALL AVAILABLE OPFFICERS

Apparently, the May 22, 2019 incident and the alleged assault of the suspect was not reported until it was uncovered by a high level supervisor reviewing HPD Use of Force Report that the body cam footage had not been reviewed or preserved  in compliance with the required review after the departments Use of Force Policy. According to several HPD sources. During that review it allegedly shows Detective  Abish Pillai striking the suspect in the head after the suspect was handcuffed and under arrest. Pillai can apparently be seen on the body cam footage striking the suspect in the head with the bottom of his department issued portable radio.

Sadly, several HPD Officer's referred to Pillai as a "good , good, guy" one Officer stated Pillai "is one of our best detectives'  and the accusation "is totally out of character" for him and that he is usually totally in control and a calm demeanor.

 It is unfortunate that this incident has the possibility of ending with Criminal charges and HPD  losing one of  their best detectives. Adrenaline is a terrible thing once it gets flowing, but so is assaulting a handcuffed suspect) i also points to several problem areas that aren't unique to HPD.

Where were the other Officer's at the scene? No one else witnessed this alleged assault, even the officer whose body cam captured the footage. (and there may be more than one recording)  Where was the supervisor who signed off on the Use of Force report and why did they not comply with the Use of Force policy to retain and review any body cam footage. Will there be any  one held accountable for these failures.
 

Monday, October 21, 2019

HPD AND THE SEARCH FOR THE GREAT PUMPKIN

Many of the good things the Hartford Police Department does go unnoticed. This past Friday was one such time.

 On Friday, the Hartford Police Activities league went on a "field trip". Two school buses loaded with youth that partake of the daily PAL program loaded two buses and headed to a South Glastonbury farm in search of the perfect pumpkin.

The farm is owned by the Cavanna Family, the farm was established in South Glastonbury in 1903 and has remained in the Cavanna family since. Two members of the Cavanna family are currently Hartford Police Officers, Sergeant John Cavanna and his younger brother, Officer Andrew Cavanna, one of the newest additions to HPD.

Friday the Cavanna family, Parents Paul and Kathy , along with their sons John and Andy, daughter Kate and several Hartford Police Officers volunteered to host  the PAL program with hayrides to the fields to select pumpkins, take a ride on a diesel train locomotive on the farm and enjoy pizza, cider and all the apples they could eat along with candy treat bags provided by Officer Cullen and his family for all the kids.

Apples, strawberries, Christmas trees and even Maple syrup are the main items produced on Cavanna Farms

Pumpkins aren't normally grown on the farm, but this year Paul and John and Andy planted a field specifically to give to the PAL kids, free of charge their own pumpkins as part of the pre-Halloween event.

It was great to see the excitement on the children's faces, many of them who had never held a pumpkin of their own. It was also great to see them interacting with the Police Officers who volunteered their time. It was interesting to see Lieutenant Lauren Cox explaining to kids what was inside a pumpkin and the seeds that could be toasted..

The locomotive rides were a huge hit as the kids lined up for their turn in the cab of the massive machine. Next up will be the Holiday hayride through downtown for the PAL kids held before Christmas
Pumpkins fresh from the Cavanna fields
Two of Hartfords Finest volunteering their time for the kids
The trainmaster explaining safety to the kids before boarding

"All Aboard" the Grey Granite Railroad