RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A REVISION OF THE HIRING PROCESS, POSITION DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA FOR THE HARTFORD INSPECTOR GENERAL
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this resolution is to address the proposed Inspector General position description, criteria and hiring process. This position is intended to provide the Civilian Police Review Board with its own ability to perform independent investigations into citizen complaints and police misconduct. Ideally the Inspector General would have sufficient power to identify, mitigate and reduce the prevalence of longstanding systemic misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic and racist culture within the Hartford Police Department.
However, the job description for this position, provides no overriding authority for this individual to make any substantive changes within the police department relative to internal affairs investigations, and the existing discriminatory and exclusionary culture of the Hartford Police Department.
The City of Hartford is approximately 80% Black and Latinx, and as such, Black and Brown members of the department, including women and members of the LGBTQ+ community currently suffer under a police department that crushes career advancement of protected class members that are not White males.
Under the current HPD administration, there have been no Blacks or Latinx sworn personnel promoted from within to the rank of Captain or above, and there has not been a Black Captain in the HPD in more than 20 years. White males in the HPD who attempt to advocate for protected class members, are retaliated against and treated as badly as those that they advocate for. The same discriminatory treatment is endured by men in the HPD who advocate for women or members of the LGBTQ+ community. Morale in the HPD is at an all time low, and the August 31, 2020 Hartford Police Department Organizational Climate Study has 74 recommendations with an undisclosed implementation plan for corrective action.
With this in mind, the Greater Hartford African American Alliance acknowledges the fact that the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) needs reform. The work of this Inspector General should improve the quality of life for the people HPD is sworn to protect and serve.
The Greater Hartford African American Alliance is making the following recommendations to eradicate the prevalence of longstanding systemic misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic and racist culture within the Hartford Police Department.
● Make the Inspector General position an integral part of Police Reform and Accountability. This simply will not happen under the existing job description.
● Rework, rewrite and repost the job description for the Inspector General position.
● Hire an inspector General who reflects the demographics of the City they serve.
● Position the Inspector General and staff to be a resource to help expedite the citizen complaint caseload, conduct investigations and build the capacity of the CPRB.
● Provide the Inspector General with the independent power to override questionable internal and external investigations and the ability to mandate mediation and arbitration in situations where appeals are raised and resolutions are not forthcoming.
● Grant the IG additional power to receive complaints and conduct investigations from sworn and civilian HPD personnel.
● Reduce the need for the filing of federal lawsuits and CHRO complaints by sworn personnel by providing an alternate route for redress of civil rights complaints through the Inspector General.
● Revise the hiring process, job description announcement date and criteria for the Hartford Inspector General position with local organizations including “One Voice – One Community”
RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A REVISION OF THE HIRING PROCESS, POSITION DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA FOR THE HARTFORD INSPECTOR GENERAL
Whereas, the recently announced City of Hartford Inspector General (IG) position is currently open until Monday, February 15, 2021, and
Whereas, the Inspector General will report directly to the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), and will work out of the Chief Operating Officer’s (COO) office, and will supervise staff, and
Whereas, the Inspector General position pays up to $117,600 a year, with benefits, and Whereas, the IG position is designed to provide the Civilian Police Review Board with investigations and recommendations with no overriding authority to make any changes within the structure of the Hartford Police Department, and
Whereas, the Hartford Police Department (HPD) is not currently in compliance with Connecticut General Statutes, including CGS 7-291(a) Efforts Re Recruitment, Retention and Promotion of Minority Police Officers, and Cintron v. Vaughn, a federal consent decree that was established in 1973, and is approaching it’s 48th year of non-compliance by the City of Hartford and the Hartford Police Department, and
Whereas, as the job description is currently written, the Inspector General will have NO authority to override the Police Chief nor intervene in the Internal Affairs Investigations within the Hartford Police Department, and
Whereas, the Inspector General conducts, or oversees, independent investigations into citizen complaints referred by the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) concurrently with the Hartford Police Department Internal Affairs Division.
Whereas, Black and Brown members of the HPD currently suffer from long term disparate treatment within the Hartford Police Department that crushes the career advancement of protected class members of the HPD, that are not White males. Furthermore, under the current administration, there have been no Blacks or Latinx sworn personnel promoted from
within to the rank of Captain or above, and
Whereas, there has not been a Black Captain in the Hartford Police Department in more than 20 years, and
Whereas, even White males of the HPD that attempt to advocate for protected class members, are retaliated against and treated as badly as those that they advocate for, and have filed discrimination and retaliation complaints of their own, and
Whereas, unfair access to overtime, discriminatory suspensions, illegal or unethical denial of promotions, discriminatory hiring practices, and general and continued suppression and oppression of women and protected class members throughout the HPD, has resulted in disparate pension benefits, low morale and high turnover, and
Whereas, the morale of the Hartford Police Department is at an all-time low, and the retention rate of officers is plummeting at a higher rate than recruitment can backfill, and Whereas, an August 31, 2020 organizational climate study of the Hartford Police Department resulted in 74 recommendations for improvement, and
Whereas, none of these issues are going to be addressed by hiring an Inspector General with no power to make change in the discriminatory investigative process currently in place in the HPD, and
Whereas, citizens that file Internal Affairs complaints currently have up to a three year wait until the Civilian Police Review Board reviews their case, and
Whereas, the Inspector General position is not structured to provide a comprehensive reform of the Internal Affairs process, and
Whereas, because of this extended delay, there have been many negative outcomes, including officers accumulating multiple complaints before any redress or corrective action can take place, and
Whereas, when citizens finally get their cases reviewed, years later, many of the officers have retired and/or moved on to other police departments, and HPD could potentially lose track of witnesses during the extended delay, thereby impeding a just outcome, and
Whereas, it is unclear whether the Inspector General, as a civilian, unless given the proper authority, would have the ability to direct sworn personnel, and
Whereas, the Inspector General should be empowered to receive and investigate complaints from sworn and civilian personnel of the HPD, and
Whereas, the City of Hartford’s residency is approximately 80% Black and Latinx, and the majority of individuals adversely impacted by the police tend to be people of color, and
Whereas, since the Inspector General is representing the people of the City of Hartford, and will have the power to investigate misconduct as filed by civilians and recommend remedies for HPD, a law enforcement agency subject to CGS 7-291(a) “that if a law enforcement unit serves a community with a relatively high concentration of minority residents the unit should
make efforts to recruit, retain and promote minority police officers so that the racial and ethnic diversity of such unit is representative of such community”, this IG position should be a person reflective of the racial and ethnic composition of the community they serve,
Whereas, the Mayor appoints eight (8) of the nine (9) voting members of the Civilian Police Review Board, and the two (2) alternates, and
Be it resolved, that whatever the proposed intent of this Inspector General position was, the description as it is currently written does not meet the required objectives of the state and federal statutes, nor does it provide what the community needs, and
Be it further resolved, that the selected hire would not be a licensed attorney or member of the CT Bar, to prevent potential conflicts regarding the attorney – client privilege, and
Be it further resolved, that the Inspector General position description needs to be reworked and reposted, with the closing date adjusted to reflect a minimum of a thirty day posting window, and
Be it still further resolved, that proactive recruitment for the position be conducted and the position be filled with an individual reflecting the demographics of the community, in accordance with CGS 7-291(a) and the Cintron v. Vaughn Consent Decree, and
Be it fully and finally resolved, that the revised Inspector General position and hiring process must be vetted by the coalition of organizations entitled
“One Community – One Voice” to ensure compliance with federal and state statutes.
AFFIRMATION
J. Stan McCauley
Greater Hartford African American Alliance President
2/10/2021
REFERENCES:
City of Hartford Inspector General Position Posting (Closes Mon Feb 15, 2021 @ 5pm)
https://agency.governmentjobs.com/hartfordct/job_bulletin.cfm?jobID=2952217
HPD Public Policy Documents Directory
via City of Hartford website “Police Dept / About Us / under Chief’s photo”
Source: http://hartfordct.gov/police
Direct Link: https://www.powerdms.com/public/HARTPD/tree
HPD Organizational Climate Study Final Report ~ August 31, 2020 (74 Recommendations / 152 Pages)
Source 1: City of Hartford Press Release with embedded link to downloadable document
as posted to City of Hartford website Sept. 22, 2020
Source 2: HPD Public Policy Documents Portal from the City of Hartford website
HPD Organizational Climate Assessment Presentation (running time 33 mins)
by Westfield State Univ & Univ of Rhode Island
https://www.powerdms.com/public/HARTPD/tree/documents/2156583
Cintron v. Vaughn Consent Decree Information
https://ecf.ctd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?1969cv13578-123-1
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59146c61add7b0493430efb5
CGS 7-291 (a) Efforts re recruitment, retention and promotion of minority police officers.
https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_104.htm#sec_7-291a
Public Act 20-1 of the July 2020 Special Session ~ An Act Concerning Police Accountability
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2020/ACT/PA/PDF/2020PA-00001-R00HB-06004SS1-PA.PDF