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Tuesday, September 15, 2020

IS A NEW ASSISTANT CHIEF IN THE WINGS FOR HPD?

 

KENNY HOWELL

Several  Hartford Police sources are telling me that a new Assistant Police Chief should be named at HPD soon. Apparently Chief Thody has informed some, including his Commanders at a recent Compstat meeting, that he has selected an African American male, who is also an attorney, to be brought into the number 2 slot.

Assistant Chief Ralph Medina, a retired State Trooper, was brought in as an Assistant Chief under  former Chief David Rosado, also a retired Trooper. It is unclear whether Thody is planning on replacing Medina or filling a second Assistant Chief slot.

A second Assistant Chief spot has not been filled for several years.

Word is that Thody has selected retired New Haven Police Lieutenant Kenny Howell , an African American  male, to fill the slot. Howell served 21 years with the New Haven Police Department before his retirement. Howell was then selected as Police Chief in Millbury Massachusetts until 2015 when his contract was abruptly ended and not renewed for unknown reasons.

In media reports, Howell claimed it was for "ruffling feathers" in the troubled Department.

If Howell is actually appointed Assistant Chief in Hartford, only time will tell if "ruffling feathers" will be an appreciated and needed skill for his career survival here. Apparently, Howell may not currently be a certified Police Officer and may require some additional training to re-gain his certification.

No confirmation from HPD on this yet.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

HARTFORD'S POSTERBOY FOR INCOMPETENCE, INEFFICIENCY AND HYPOCRISY




Last night, or more precisely, early this morning, numerous vehicles were vandalized and spray painted with the letters "BLM" in the rear parking lot for the Hartford Police Department. This vandalism included HPD vehicles as well as Officer's personal vehicles. I am not going to get into all  of the details of the incident, but apparently a 17 year old has been arrested in the incident.

More troubling to me is more the issue of how it happened. How was a 17 year old able to get into a supposedly secure are and vandalize vehicles for an extended period. Operating undetected in front of a Police Department facility that I would hope we all thought was safe.

Well as it turns out, most of our driveways are about as safe, or safer. than the Hartford Police Parking area. The lot is supposed to be secured by chain link fence metal gates that are opened and closed by a key card access control system. Apparently those gates have been broken for months and no one was concerned enough to make the calls to get them fixed. As well as security cameras to cover the area. A 12 foot high fence covers the back are along the railroad tracks

Those broken gates allowed anyone that wanted to walk in or drive into the supposedly "secure" area. Did no one notice they were broken. Did no supervisor or member of the command staff look out the window or drive by and maybe say to themselves "hmmm. I wonder why the secure gates are always open?"

What about the Deputy Chief whose job and responsibility it is to maintain the building? Where was he? Too busy buffing the chrome trailer hitch on his prized Bomb Squad truck? This is inexcusable. If someone is making over $130,000 to do a job and he doesn't do that job, then it is the Police Chief's job to hold him accountable, and that doesn't usually happen at HPD. The only people held accountable are the low men and women on the totem pole ( is that analogy politically incorrect now a days?) The higher ups are never touched.

Thody has no trouble coming down on the little people, but if you're one of his boys with a take home Tahoe, you're all set.

For years, ever since 253 High Street opened as the new Public Safety Headquarters, the Command Staff had a fenced in deck on the second level of the parking garage. Very secure, well maintained, properly plowed in the winter. The rank and file, the little people of HPD, mostly patrol officers, have had to park in a dirt lot across from the front entrance. An unsecured dirt lot, no gates no direct cameras except what is on the front of 253 High Street, complete with ankle busting pot holes and hazards. Many Officer's cars have been broken into in that lot.

But who cares as long as the Chief and the Command Staff can park comfortably in their secure parking area.

As an issue of Officer safety, the gates need to be repaired immediately, the rear lot should be cleared  of any unnecessary vehicles and space should be made for Hartford Police Officers to be able to park their personal vehicles securely while working. There is room to accommodate that and it should be done ASAP and those responsible for failing to maintain the facility need to be held accountable.

Much of the "junk" that occupies space behind 253 High Street could very easily be moved to 40 or 50 Jennings Road to free up space

The safety and well being of our Police Officers, if we really appreciate them, requires nothing less. Again, it is an officer safety issue
 

Thursday, July 16, 2020

CONNECTICUT'S POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY BILL DRAFT

I have received numerous calls about the proposed Police Accountability Law  for Connecticut's Police Officers. The link to the bill on CT.GOV has been disabled so I am posting a PDF of the draft here.
 I haven't read the entire bill yet, so I will reserve my comments until I can digest it. Feel free to comment below

Monday, July 13, 2020

WHERE IS THE THODY ACCIDENT REPORT?


"Now what?"


 I think anyone who has ever had to put a claim through for repairs after an auto accident knows that the first thing  any insurance company will ask for is the Police Report and case number.
So where is the accident report for the recent crash and repairs to the City of Hartford's 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe assigned to Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody.

So where is Thody's accident report, commonly called a PR-1 by Police.
The short and concise answer from the Connecticut State Police in their e-mail below was received pursuant to my request for a copy of the CSP accident report, it doesn't exist.

From the e-mail: "Please understand that there was no investigation into a motor vehicle collision because an accident was not reported to the State Police; therefore  there is no report that we are able to provide you"

Let me ask a hypothetical question here, since CSP said there is no report and we know according to the Hartford COO Thea Montanez that the insurance Company paid a claim for over $3300.00 what documentation was submitted to validate the accident or is there a possibility that a phony report was submitted as part of a wider coverup?

Montanez  and Thody had initially claimed that the damage was under $1,000.00 so no report was required. So in my best Maury Povich voice I have to say "That was a lie". Damage exceeded $3300.00

These questions need to be answered, and answered truthfully for a change.

Lets start with the phone records verifying Thody's call to Montanez immediately after the crash as he claims and lets see the insurance documentation .
Csp Foi Email  on Scribd

WHITE PRIVILEGE ALIVE AND WELL AT HPD

HPD CHIEF JASON THODY

"Is there really a recording?"


I need to start off with an apology. I have been naive. I had hoped that in this day and age something as disgusting as white privilege didn't really exist. I had hoped it was just another part of the "political" buzz words to get people riled up and enflame unrest.

After watching the special treatment Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody has received after his evading crash, I have to say white privilige is alive and well, especially at HPD and the Middlesex County States Attorney's Office. Or maybe it is just another example of the "thin blue line" Either way it is troubling that we are not all equal under the law.

I really don't like to make things racial, but how can you not when you see the special treatment Thody has received. Do you think any African American male from Hartford's  Northend could escape an evading accident without any charges, as Thody has done? A well documented accident , called in by an apparently impartial motorist and documented by a Lieutenant Colonel from the Connecticut State Police.

Look back and follow the story of Lieutenant Paul West in my archives. LT West is an African American supervisor in the Hartford Police Department who has suffered the wrath of HPD and Jason Thody after West was accused of mishandling the Kelly Baerga incident.  Much of that wrath was based upon what could be called "miscommunication" in some of West's reports and memos about the incident. Is Jason Thody the only one who has the benefit of being able to "misspeak" and West has no such benefit?

Mind you, the documentation of Thody's escapades  was only done after the initial coverup was discovered by me and relayed to the Connecticut State Police to try to verify the facts in the original falsified Bowsza report to try to see if Thody's version was truthful. Thody, according to Bowsza'a report , had claimed that he had called the Connecticut State Police immediately after the crash to report it and that CSP declined to respond or issue a case number to him That turned out to not be truthful and subsequently another report came out claiming that Bowsza had "misunderstood" Thody.

Thody never reported the accident to CSP, as any motorist is required to do under Connecticut State Law. I think in the end we will see documentation to verify if any of Thody's statements are true. I'm betting not.

How many of us could get away with that type of behavior? Probably not many, unless you were a caucasian Police Chief. And what drove the decision of the Middlesex County States Attorney Michael Gailor to get the Connecticut State Police to back off on Thody. I guess that old adage that "Justice is Blind" must not apply to powerful white men like Thody I think lady Justice in this case is more deaf than blind and isn't aware of the public outcry for greater Police transparency and accountability. Skin color and power, two great qualities to possess if you want to skirt the law.

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

THEY KEEP ADDING UP, ANOTHER HOMICIDE

FROM HPD

On Monday July 06, 2020 at approximately 1415 hours, West Hartford Police responded to the area of Capitol Avenue and Prospect Avenue on a car accident. Officers quickly determined that at least two of the occupants of the vehicle had sustained gunshot wounds. The two gunshot victims were transported to area hospitals for treatment. The operator of the vehicle later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at 1606 hours. The second victim was listed in stable condition. It was later determined that the incident began in the area of 1034 Capitol Avenue and a crime scene was located and secured by responding patrol officers. The Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions responded and assumed control of the investigation.

   The deceased has been identified as Junny Lara-Velazquez DOB 01/28/2001 of 519 Park Street, Hartford, CT.

    Next of Kin has been identified as Kimberly Garcia DOB 03/27/1989 (sister) of 519 Park Street, Hartford, CT.