A gang member is charged with the attempted murder of a Hartford police officer — but a program aimed at stopping the bloodshed remains in flux

The attempted murder of a patrol officer this week underscores the continued threat street gangs pose in Hartford — but an intervention program aimed at curbing gang violence remains in a state of flux.

A 31-year-old man affiliated with the Los Solidos — and who was sought in connection with a Monday homicide — shot into a police cruiser parked in Clay Arsenal early Tuesday morning, narrowly missing the young officer inside, police said. A mug shot from the suspect’s arrest last month shows letters associated with Los Solidos cut into his hair, a hark-back to earlier years when gang members could be easily identified by colors and tattoos.

Hartford police recently said that street gangs and groups account for about a third of the city’s violence. Group Violence Intervention (GVI) — a nationally-recognized model for reducing community violence — says gangs and groups typically drive 60-70% of shootings and homicides in their communities.

But Hartford has failed to launch a state-funded initiative that’s based on the GVI model, even as the program, called Project Longevity, has shown success in New Haven and Bridgeport.

Now the statewide initiative — designed to bring together law enforcement, social service providers and the community to work together in gang violence interventions — is under new management and briefly out of commission as a result of the long-standing issues in Hartford.

Hartford’s new program manager, starting Monday, is Mark Manson, a former Hartford police officer who has also served on the force in Bloomfield and East Hartford, according to The Justice Education Center, the West Hartford nonprofit now managing Project Longevity.

“Terrific person, passionate about the community, well-respected,” said Sherry Haller, the center’s executive director. “We are lucky to have been able to hire him.”

He will replace former project manager Glendra Lewis, whose contract expired Sept. 30. Two months ago, The Courant revealed there had been little cooperation between her and the police department for at least a year. Their discord is documented in a series of reports in which Lewis and Police Chief Jason Thody lay blame on each other for some of the initiative’s shortcomings over the past 18 months.

Meanwhile, Hartford has seen 30 homicides this year, not including the victim of an officer-involved shooting in January. With two months left of 2021, the city has already experienced more murders than were recorded in any of the past five years in their entirety.

The most recent victim, 53-year-old Catherine Hayes, was found dead inside a Spring Street apartment Monday afternoon. Police are pursuing a murder charge against Jose Cajigas, the Los Solidos-connected suspect who was arrested in Tuesday’s attack on the police officer.

Until this week, police and court records have not tied any recent homicides to formal gangs. However, earlier this month, a former member of Hartford’s Project Longevity told the Hartford Courant that gang-related violence persists.

“You still have the Solidos, the Latin Kings,” said Gregory Mills, a former social services coordinator. “They’re still there but they want to conduct business under the radar. Some of them are involved in making money in comparison to drawing attention to themselves.”

Mills, who was also let go as part of the program’s reorganization, was responsible for connecting with adults who were injured in gun violence in Hartford as well as people involved in street gangs and groups who were ready to leave that life behind. He would help them get their GED, driver’s license, job training, addiction and mental health services and housing assistance.

Throughout the pandemic, Mills also accompanied Hartford officers on what are called “custom notifications,” individual interventions with the people most at risk of becoming the next shooter or shooting victim.

Some of his newest clients were people who’d been injured in recent shootings, and Mills said he was waiting for them to recover so he could assign them to different programs. He’d also made inroads with Hartford’s halfway houses, building a rapport with residents. These activities have been paused since Oct. 1.

“I left everybody in limbo,” Mills said of his clients. “A lot of them are bothered. A lot of them are sad.”

The center is now evaluating the needs of the three Project Longevity sites, and working closely with the police departments, cities and community members to improve coordination, client referrals and the administration of the programs, Haller said.

Haller is also talking with service providers and members of the Greater Hartford Re-Entry Council, a collaboration of state and local groups that serve individuals returning from incarceration. The council chair, Sue Gunderman, is also the interim director of Re-Entry Services for the city of Hartford.

“I have confidence that HPD and Project Longevity and our community partners will be doing everything they can to address the violent incidences we are experiencing,” Haller said.

Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.