Hartford leaders seek new policies to increase oversight of police

The Hartford city council is looking to increase oversight of city police, even as department leaders announced a drop in crime.

Council members are considering two resolutions that would direct city police work — one calling for a comprehensive crime prevention strategy and the other creating a framework to replace the now-defunct Cintron v. Vaughan consent decree, which aimed to reform police guidelines and promote diversity in the Hartford Police Department, until a federal judge let it sunset earlier this year.

As both resolutions continue to be discussed in the council’s Quality of Life and Public Safety committee, several council members who have called for broader oversight of the police say it is necessary to ensure greater transparency and accountability.

“It’s important because council works for the people of Hartford,” said councilwoman Tiana Hercules. “And as such, we must ensure that one of our largest, most costly and important departments in our city reflect the wills, wants, and values of the people. That the department engages with our residents in a way that resembles justice and fairness and transparency. That the department reflect the demographic makeup of the city and that it is making continuous efforts in its policies and practices to build trust and partnership with the community it serves.”

The city has instituted several reforms since George Floyd died at the hands of police in 2020, including forming a Civilian Police Review Board, and hiring an independent inspector general to review police officer actions. Hartford’s inspector general, Liam Brennan, resigned in March amid a contentious relationship with the city’s police union along with announcing a run for mayor of New Haven.

Councilman Josh Michtom, who sits on the public safety committee, said he believes the council should have greater oversight of the city’s police force.

“Our Civilian Police Review Board is a step in the right direction but lacks the resources and legal authority to hold the police to account,” Michtom said. “The less independent oversight, the more abuse and misconduct become normalized.”

Councilman Amilcar Hernandez, the newest member of the council, said that he is awaiting further discussion on the issue in the next public safety committee meeting scheduled for Aug. 15, it’s important for the council to begin discussions with the police department around oversight.

“In principle, it sounds like it’s the right thing to do — to have a police department reflect the community and that has some parameters around police accountability, but I really want to wait until after the committee to give more details.”

Crime overall is down

These new initiatives come on the heels of a decrease in crime in the city, with just 12 homicides in the first six months of the year, Assistant Police Chief Kenny Howell said at a June 21 meeting of the Quality of Life and Public Safety Committee. There were 39 homicides recorded in the city last year, with over 17 by the same time last year, according to Hartford Police Data.

“We’re deeply conscious of the fact that the causes of gun violence are deep and complex, and that we often experience the effects of bigger, national trends — in both directions. And I’m skeptical of anyone who tries to tell you that they know exactly why gun violence drops in one year or spikes in another year,” Mayor Luke Bronin said. “That said, I’m incredibly grateful to both our law enforcement and to our community partners for the work they’re doing every day to prevent gun violence and save lives. As a community, I don’t think we’ve ever done more — both on the law enforcement side, taking illegal guns off the street and solving shootings, and through partnerships like COMPASS Peacebuilders and our hospital-based violence intervention work.”

Mike Lawlor, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven, said that he is not surprised by the downward trend.

“What I’m seeing here is very consistent with what is going on nationwide, which is a downturn in shootings,” Lawlor said. “You do see an uptick in stolen cars which is also definitely going on nationwide.”

The HPD has said that while most crime is down in the city, auto thefts remain high. Police made 96 arrests for stolen vehicles this year, with 67 vehicles recovered in the city. Assistant Police Chief Howell said that a major driver is the lack of safety features installed in Hyundai cars.

The department has also seized 31,00 bags of fentanyl or 5,623 grams, 974 grams of crack, 13,697 grams of cocaine, and $555,409 in drug money this year, according to minutes from the June 21 meeting.

“In New Haven you’re seeing similar trends, the only difference is murders are up compared to last year, but the number of shootings is actually down,” Lawlor said. “I would be surprised if the data in Hartford was anything different, the trend line is moving in the right direction with the rest of the state. It is hard to overstate the impact COVID-19 had on crime. The pandemic made it much harder for the police to conduct their work as well.”

Crime Prevention Strategy

In spite of the falling crime rate, the council is considering a resolution to draw in a broad coalition of stakeholders to address violent crime and create a comprehensive crime prevention strategy.

Council President Maly Rosado introduced the resolution, aimed in part at stopping repeat offenders, last fall.

The city’s police department said that there is a high re-offense rate: 73% among violent offenders are repeat arrests and 79% of suspects in gun homicides and nonfatal shootings have been previously arrested for gun-related offenses.

Rosado said that idea is modeled after the federal initiative Project Safe Neighborhoods. Launched in 2001, the program, under the Department of Justice, is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

“I came up with the resolution because I saw that what we were doing was obviously not working,” Rosado said. “My main concern is that a lot of nonprofits that are doing the same thing in the city are not communicating. Let’s say COMPASS recruits four or five youths but they get to the maximum they can take on as an agency. We can’t stop there, we have to refer them to the next level which is Our Piece of the Pie, where they can learn a trade skill and perhaps get a college degree and become a productive member of society.

“So that’s what I want to see with other organizations like Hartford Communities that Care. You provide support when people are shot at the hospital for their families, but how about afterwards so that a person doesn’t become a repeat offender? We have to find a way to get all these agencies to speak to each-other so we can provide the most beneficial wrap-around services based on individual needs,” Rosado said.

Rosado said that she also wants to engage the community from the ground up by neighborhood.

“My goal is to build block watches within each neighborhood in the city of Hartford,” Rosado said. “The goal is to have an organizer in each block so if there is an issue with your street, you can go to that person, and they can go directly to the city council or state rep. office. I learned from the red light task force that when you leave politics out of it and go straight to the community, you get things done.”

The resolution calls on the Drug Enforcement Administration, state police, and state’s attorney’s office to work in collaboration with the Hartford Police Department. In addition, it calls on a group of stakeholders — including non-profit and advocacy groups, members of the faith-based community, Neighborhood Revitalization Zones, business owners and residents — to work together on creating a crime prevention strategy aimed at fostering collaboration and a pipeline for data sharing for individuals involved in gun violence who require multiple services from different agencies.

Rosado said the resolution has been referred to the council’s Quality of Life & Public Safety Committee for further discussion.

Cintron v. Vaughan

The federal consent decree Cintron v. Vaughan, initiated in a 1969 lawsuit and put in place in 1973, alleged Hartford police were waging a campaign of humiliation and discrimination against the city’s minority residents. Settlement of the case resulted in the federal consent decree pushing for more accountability when officers are involved in shootings and more diversity among officers.

The decree was set to expire and was extended several times, most recently in October 2022. In 2016 the decree was extended, with the court finding the city in contempt of the decree due to a majority-white police force. City advocacy groups filed a motion of contempt before the 2022 date, arguing that the city was not upholding the Cintron decree requirement to promote diversity in recruiting since the Hartford Police Department is compromised of just 12% Black officers.

But despite the concerns that the city was not meeting its obligations under the decree, U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley issued an order back in April denying Cintron v. Vaughan plaintiffs’ motion for contempt, dissolving the consent agreement and ending the half-century-old litigation. City council in March had passed a resolution to extend the consent decree but the city opposed it.

Shortly after the consent decree was left to sunset, council majority leader Thomas “TJ” Clarke II and councilwoman Shirley Surgeon, introduced a new resolution aimed at ensuring the police continue to follow the guidelines in the Cintron decree. Among the action items listed in the resolution, the HPD must implement its own policies and procedures that align with the consent decree, communicate policy reforms to the council and place that information on the city website. In addition, the police department must provide the council with an update on how they will fully meet the consent decree guidelines.

Clarke, who co-chairs the public safety committee, said he still feels there is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done when it comes to bridging the gap between police and community members.

“At that time when the decree was put in place, it was very important to the city,” Clarke said. “In the wake of what has taken place since 2020, it is more critical that we have a level of understanding so that we can still work to bridge relationships and gaps in our community with our law enforcement. We’ve never had a presentation from our police and corporation counsel as to what the level of accomplishment has been over the years in meeting the terms of the consent decree. So this will give us a better understanding of where the city stands.”

Clarke, who has been an outspoken critic of letting the 50-year-old Cintron decree sunset, said the public safety committee will meet in August to further discuss what role the city should take and how the city has fared in meeting the consent decree’s requirements.

“With the resolution I put forth, Chief Thody and corporation counsel will come before the public safety committee and we will have a presentation as to what has been done around meeting the decree. We hope to hear that they have a plan to move forward under the same terms of the consent decree with some action items,” Clarke said.

Councilman Josh Michtom said that while the resolution is a step in the right direction, he is skeptical that it will produce any meaningful action.

“I’m glad to see the resolution, but resolutions in Hartford are too often aspirational statements that take the place of thoughtful governance and hard decisions. I have no faith in HPD to effectively address the racist impacts of its policies — that’s why we had a court order in the first place,” Michtom said. “If Hartford wants to see a change in how the police relate to the community, that change will come with different department leadership and concrete budgetary and statutory steps to rein in Hartford police and use resources thoughtfully.”

The Courant reached out to the Hartford Police Department for comment, but did not receive a response.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com.