David Daniels, the police lieutenant in charge of the Community Services Division, has announced Police Chief Joe Gaudett has removed him from that position. OIB has received several notifications about this from folks both opposed and supporting the move. Daniels has been one of the public faces of the police department going into neighborhoods to address violent crime. He issued this Facebook statement on Saturday:
I wasn’t gonna deal with this publicly and it seems I was the last to know, yesterday I started hearing rumors that I was going to be replaced as the Officer in Charge of the Community Services Division, I called the Chief and asked him about it and was told that he feels a change is necessary. I also spoke to the Mayor whom told me it was The Chief’s choice. Police officers are like Soldiers … and have to go where we are sent, I will go on to my next assignment without reservation, as fate would have it I can retire from the department October 2012, anyway I will start that countdown. For the past few years I had the best Job in the Bridgeport Police Department, serving you (The Community) has been my greatest pleasure.
Supporters of Daniels say they will protest this decision on Friday 6 pm at the Margaret Morton Government Center, formerly the City Hall Annex. State Senate candidate Ernie Newton posted this on his Facebook page:
David Daniels was moved because he Would not bite his tongue. If it wasn’t for DAVE- No- One would be talking about Community Policing. His Community Against Violence was such a success The Mayor And Police Chief Moved Dave OUT. Thanks Dave for not selling-out Our Community And Standing UP to the Power’s to Be ( stay- Tune)
Another brilliant move by Mayor Finch that will HURT the community, I guess somebody stepped on the mayor’s toes.
Ron, how will this hurt the community exactly? You do not explain. Thanks.
Bepo, let me use the words of Andy Fardy when he said, “the community does not want to get involved plus retaliation.” There is a lack of trust with the mayor, the police chief and the police department; Daniels is one of the few police officers who has a working relationship with the community. I don’t know what Dave said or did or what someone else said about Dave but Mayor Finch wants him out.
Does he have any toes left? There are a lot of people out there who want a piece.
I think the whole community policing idea has been a total waste of money and manpower. Tell me what good it has done? Last night there was another murder and again no one wants to talk. The community does not want to get involved. Why? Retaliation is one reason and the other is the lack of police protection.
There was a time when the police on patrol knew their areas and developed friendly contacts city wide; not any more.
I don’t know how many officers are assigned to community policing but I suggest they all be returned to patrol; get them out in the street and not in their office on Sylvan Ave. The more the PD implements new programs the more they fail or fail to live up to their potential.
Here is another reason why people don’t want to get involved. You call 911 and you get the third degree. Last night my friend woke up to find two men in her house. She yelled up to her daughter to call 911. The daughter called and got bombarded by a bunch of questions that went on and on. The police showed up and handled the incident. Why all the questions?
Andrew, the community services division has nothing to do with “community policing” per se. The division manages the 60 neighborhood block watch programs and provides public programs.
Bepo, thanks for the clarification. I think that is all the more reason to do away with this unit and put those cops on the street. The reason the people don’t trust the police and won’t talk to them is they don’t know the cops working in their neighborhoods. Many of the quality of life calls do not get a police response they get an incident number, thus the feeling grows that the PD does not care. The other problem with this system is the cop in your neighborhood really does not know what is going on in the area he patrols.
When I was the arson investigator and my partner was a detective we spent all our free time in the streets. We developed trust with local merchants and others from the various neighborhoods. We also knew what was going on in the various neighborhoods which on several occasions led to arrests for gun running and dope dealing. You ask a patrolmen from 20 years ago what he knew about his patrol area and he will give you chapter and verse. Not so today.
*** It seems every time the Finch Admin. plays racial politics and offers a treat (Margaret Morton Annex), it’s just a matter of time before they take something away! Being that retirement is just around the corner for Daniels, he’s sure to be able to handle the change just fine after a nice summer vacation, no? *** CHANGE IS NOT ALWAYS WELCOMED, BUT SOMETIMES NEEDED! ***
Daniels got relieved because the program he manages is ineffective. A lot of people in the communities aren’t saying much about this issue.
yahooy, you are correct. Daniels told Doing it Local yesterday he hopes three of his programs will still continue, and he named the Officer Friendly Basketball Program, iWatch Bridgeport, and the Community Food and Toy Giveaway during Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I’m thinking these are the things he is most proud of as officer in charge. iWatch Bridgeport is not effective and the other two are nice but Bridgeport has lots of basketball programs and food drives. In fact I am kind of unsure what his department has done over the years!
The following link is to a superb article I feel OIBers should read:
ameribornnews.com/2012/06/21/shays-wins-debate-with-mcmahon-and-overall-a-synopsis
As for the topic relating to David Daniel, I had predicted this last month when I was approached by a friend who told me David Daniel is going to run for mayor of Bridgeport. I asked if he was thinking about it or had his mind made up and was told, “it’s done.” I suggested to this friend Daniels should keep his plans as quiet as possible (I had the feeling it was too late and this person had told many others). It’s not smart–when in a vulnerable or volatile city position–to go around announcing a run for mayor with over three years to go at it. As for the violent crimes, it doesn’t matter who is in charge of the Community Services Division–the problems are deeply rooted in some members of the community.
From Ernie Newton’s fb page:
FB Family On July 6 @ 6pm We will be gathering in Protest Of David Daniels Being Moved from Our Community Policing Services. Dave has always cared about Our Community and our children. It will be @ The Margaret Morton Government Center With a March to the Police Station. We want the Mayor and Police Chief to reconsider Mr. Daniels Move.
Hey tahooy, is it true you are going to be the guest speaker?
No. I don’t think Daniels did a good job and I don’t think Newton should be elected.
yahooy,
Tough shit on the latter hope. Ernie Newton will win his old state senate seat.
I see we had yet another homicide last night. Clearly, whatever Finch and Gaudett are doing to make the streets safer is not working. Is this move just a way to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic? Only time will tell.
As stated in a commentary piece in the Connecticut Post of May 25 (see link below), in order to have safe streets and neighborhoods in Bridgeport (or any distressed urban center) it is necessary to have a very well-managed (indeed, aggressively managed), progressive, innovative, community-policing plan/system–in sympathy and partnership with the public–in place and effectively/efficiently administered at the street/neighborhood level.
This type of system is based on a well-managed, well-nurtured/well-funded block watch/neighborhood patrol system, that operates in partnership with the police department and City Hall.
Bridgeport has never really had that system through its Community Services Division–which was designed and created to create and implement such a system.
Under Chief Thomas Sweeney, in the wild, early ’90s, a nearly successful attempt at creating such a system was made, with the approximating model achieving incredible success. The model fell short, however, because of the Ganim Administration’s determination to politicize and create a cash cow out of the system. This latter situation, over time, ultimately hobbled the system and led to the anemic, poorly managed, politicized system that exists today. It has been more of the same over the years, with the bones of a system surviving largely because of the determined efforts of Officer Nick Ortiz and a couple of non-political, interim Community Services Supervisors during the past 12 years or so.
The Community Services Division needs enlightened, sympathetic leadership and management–which it simply has not had. It needs direct oversight from the Chief’s office, which it hasn’t had since Sweeney. It also needs to be located where that oversight can be effectively applied–in Police HQ–not in an isolated outpost where things can run amok and where accountability can be fudged/avoided, and citizen contact/input avoided, and citizens disrespected and, in some cases, verbally abused while pursuing remedies for neighborhood problems through the office, as is presently the case with the inappropriate Old Town Road outpost.
The Chief did the right thing with this Community Services leadership shake-up. The question is whether or not this is just another phase of the Finch Administration’s mimicry of the Ganim Administration’s power/money consolidation/dictatorial rule policy, or whether or not the whole concept of objective community policing, as a community/citizen partnership, has been resurrected by Tom Sweeney’s protege, Chief Joseph Gaudett. The identity of the new appointee to the supervisor’s role will provide strong clues in this regard.
Good, bold move, Chief! Now it is up to the citizens of Bridgeport to make sure this doesn’t become another Finch Administration SNAFU, a la the BOE takeover … (The BOE coup anniversary–timing of this situation is interesting …)
www .ctpost.com/opinion/article/Getting-serious-about-public-safety-in-Bridgeport-3586051.php
Maybe Finch and company could arrange for the state to take over the pd like they did with education. Or better yet replace the police with a rent-a-cop company Finch and Wood own.
I will leave my two cents here. Officer Daniels is a great guy, one of the nicer Bpt police officers you will meet. If this program is still going to be about and someone else running it this is a damn shame. I can tell you first hand Officer David Daniels cares about the city of Bridgeport unlike the rest of the scumbags running around Bridgeport.
This is so predictable. Let’s have a rally because racism must be at play here. Really? Nick Ortiz had that position and eventually moved on, didn’t hear anyone up in arms then … so what! Daniels says he’s done in October anyway. How many of you on this blog are on a block watch Daniels started? No one owns a position at the Police Department. If Gaudett thinks he can find someone better, let him. So ridiculous to think anyone is indispensable. Police are here to serve, not be served. Having said that let’s also wish Daniels well and thank him for his sincere effort.
Hey kitty do you even live in Bridgeport? Idk about you but officer Daniels is well respected in Bridgeport by the residents, something no politician or anybody else can say!
Yes, I live in Bridgeport. I can’t comment on the level of respect Daniels has earned, only to say there’s history as there is with everyone. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though. Your comment donj is too inane to respond to but I will tell you Gaudett deserves the right to put in his own person. Defending people because someone looks like you or is of the same ethnic race is racist in itself. Gaudett has the right to bring in his own person no matter the color of the skin.
Kitty, let me ask you a question. A young black child is shot dead in the East End on their way home walking from summer camp because there is a shootout between rival gang members. A near riot breaks out because the community is pissed at the killing. Question, what person could walk into the crowd and talk to them and be respected when they talk? Mayor Finch, Police Chief Gaudett or Lieutenant Daniels?
Great point. Mackey. But you’re asking the wrong questions. Let’s first stop the killing from happening. Violent gang members are probably most often the product of a mother ill-prepared to raise a child, a father not there, a child then raised with little guidance from home on being a good student, living in a community where businesses won’t move into, lack of jobs, no role models. The child becomes a gun-wielding drug dealer and shoots someone. What we need are Christian values that suggest respect, education and marriage before having children. A husband at home to guide sons, virtuous daughters. That was the Bridgeport of my youth, a Bridgeport in a black neighborhood where God-fearing families were in tact in the early ’60s before the false promise of a Great Society that I believe is really to blame and just another form of slavery.
So while yes it’s good to have a black officer in a place of prominence to help with community relations, it’s much more important to bring God back into families. That’s what we need to be talking about. Everyone is afraid to talk about that. It’s much easier to blame some politician. Easy yes, but not the real issue. I pray for Bridgeport families to return to our Christian values. Our only real hope.
Kitty, you said, “Let’s stop the killing.” It’s obvious the mayor and police chief are not doing their jobs.
Last I checked the Chief and Mayor didn’t pull any triggers. And in fact killings are way down from past years. I do agree however, Ron, that indeed one child killed is too many. We just disagree about who is responsible. I tend to blame the person pulling the trigger.
Kitty, naturally to pick blame the killer but what action has Mayor Finch and the police chief taken to reduce those killings, what have they put in place, what actions have they taken to get the community to trust them? Residents are scared to death to come forward and speak out because they don’t trust the mayor and the police chief to protect them if they come forward with information.
*** More benjamin$ for more “new” police classes, seasonal community policing, more P/D management out of A/C offices and back on patrols, golden handshake to officers with 30 years plus, also increase activity by gang and drug taskforce units. All equals “higher taxes” in Bpt! ***