From Dan Tepfer, CT Post:
Four city police detectives have been placed on desk duty while state police determine which one fatally shot a suspected gun runner Monday night during an undercover operation on the East Side.
Members of the state police gang task force, city police detectives and state Department of Correction investigators had surrounded the car in Boston Avenue’s Bayview Plaza parking lot when police said the driver attempted to crash through the ring of officers. Police officers opened fire at the car after they said the passenger, Carnell Williams, pointed a gun at them.
Full story here.
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*** With that many cop cruisers on the scene you would think at least one car videocam would be on and recording unless orders to turn them off were given beforehand, no? ***
*** The answer to your question is a resounding NO. *** Let’s use some common sense and facts here. Bridgeport Police cruisers don’t have cameras. Even if they did have cameras and video footage was captured, the videos captured at the point in time and place Mojo is referring to, the footage would be useless as the cruisers arrived after the shooting happened. There was no way for anyone to know what was going to happen for anyone to order the cameras to be turned off. You’re implying the premeditated murder of a man and a cover-up by the Bridgeport Police Department.
During the tenure of Police Chief Norwood, stun guns with cameras were purchased in order to reduce the use of deadly force with a gun. Most of the stun guns used now don’t have cameras and cost less. Even when they used the ones with cameras there were instances where there was no time to turn the camera on before tasering the suspect. In such a scenario, all the Mojos out there would question why the camera wasn’t turned on before pulling the trigger. In a split second a Police Officer can get killed.
The City of Bridgeport is on its way to having one of the lowest homicide rates in years. Much of it has to do with the great effort by Bridgeport Police Officers in taking guns off the streets before they are used in a crime. Not all suspects comply with orders of the police when they’re in a situation as the one discussed here and unfortunately for all involved, this is how it ends. So far, two more guns and ten fingers off the streets.
*** In this day and age many P/D depts have cameras on their cars for protection from false claims of police abuse by those being arrested. Also they don’t have to be just patrol cruisers to have the video car-cams either. The question of are there any car videocams on the police vehicles and were they on or off does not imply anything more than the actual question itself. Let’s stay focused on the actual questions and opinion-type answers from the roving OIB reporter, no? ***