City Task Force Recommends Police Reforms, Intervention Of Social Services

Tom,here is the article,so many ridiculous proposals in it that it’s laughable…Bridgeport,we are screwed..
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RIDGEPORT — Stating “the time is now to re-imagine what public safety looks like in Bridgeport,” a task force has recommended ways to build trust between the police and community and to hold officers accountable for bad behavior.

Now Mayor Joe Ganim, the City Council, Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia and the police union must agree to implement the proposed changes through the municipal budget process — which concludes in mid-May — and looming contract negotiations.

Much of the Bridgeport group’s recommended reforms can be divided into two categories — heightened community involvement/social services and tougher discipline. A couple other proposed changes target overtime earnings as well.

“What now needs to happen is follow through and, certainly, money,” Gemeem Davis, a leader of the Bridgeport Generation Now civic group who had a seat on the task force, said Tuesday.

Formed late last year by City Council President Aidee Nieves and Councilman Scott Burns, the task force met a few times in private before convening publicly starting in February after being warned by the state it was likely in violation of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.

Other participants included representatives from Ganim’s office, the police department, the police commission, the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, and a few other activists.

The initiative was born out of a few years’ worth of excessive force incidents and other law enforcement controversies in Bridgeport, and the protests locally and nationwide following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last May. Ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty last week on three counts for killing Floyd.

A consultant Ganim hired in 2019 — retired Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey — in an analysis of the Bridgeport force he provided the council in April 2020, emphasized the need to build trust with the community.

So the task force calls for the department to “re-commit to community policing” through: foot patrols; requiring officers spend “90 minutes per shift outside their vehicles … giving a name, a face and a voice to those they serve”; and creating more opportunities to interact with residents. These opportunities would include offering ride-alongs in cruisers, establishing a citizen’s police academy and hosting regular meetings between police and the public.

The Ganim administration is also urged to establish a “social services-based unit to address non-violent, non-criminal issues that require … professionals outside the police force.

“Social workers, addiction counselors, homeless advocates and others need to be given the opportunity to replace the police where their skills and training are more suitable to address the needs of the community,” states the report.

“That’s where you’re going to get, I hope, a real change in terms of how services are delivered around here,” Burns said.

Ganim in a statement for this story Tuesday evening said he was thankful for the group’s work and singled out the additional social services resources. He said they “will support police officers in the field, and most importantly will provide vital, meaningful help to individuals in need that may not be of a criminal nature, but rather a mental, psychological or social crisis.”

Ramsey last year also recommended a staffing study of the department to assess its structure and personnel needs. The task force wants that done with a focus on “civilization of certain jobs” such as directing traffic at construction sites.

Such work can be lucrative for officers in terms of overtime paid by the private contractors involved. But critics on the task force would prefer department personnel focus on other public safety needs and also say that so-called outside overtime increases police pensions, and Bridgeport’s pension contributions.

The group also suggests the police contract be revised so accrued city-funded or inside overtime “shall not exceed 10 percent of an officer’s base salary.” Members of the force are typically among the highest paid Bridgeport employees each year often because of inside and outside overtime payments.

As for how the staffing study and the social services program will be funded, Burns said the council can scrutinize Garcia’s budget proposal and perhaps target funds directed at promotions and whether those positions are needed. Additional revenues could come from pending retirements if older officers are replaced by cheaper cadets, Burns said.

The task force’s report also aims to target “the lack of police accountability” through “common sense reforms” members want the Ganim administration to prioritize during contract negotiations. The current pact with the police union expires June 30.

One major change would be eliminating the practice of providing a salary to officers who are placed on leave while under investigation “for excessive force, sexual misconduct or off-duty offenses.” If found not guilty, those officers would subsequently receive back pay for lost wages.

In addition, the chief “must fire” officers found guilty of using excessive force; consider “all past records of discipline” when making promotions; and “in progressive discipline” take all previous disciplinary action into account “including verbal warnings.”

Davis said such contract changes, adopted from Generation Now’s own work on policing reform, are “a way that the city can really show in a real concrete way that Black Lives really do matter (and) the city is really serious about fixing some of the harm of systemic racism and police violence.”

Burns and Nieves said they presented their findings to the mayor and to Garcia. Police Lt. Manuel “Manny” Cotto was part of the task force. Neither Garcia nor the police union immediately returned requests for comment Tuesday.

The release of the task force’s report comes as Garcia and Ganim’s administration launch a new recruitment drive while grappling with morale issues within the department.

Labor grievances by officers are up and the union — which recently voted “no confidence” in Garcia’s leadership — has complained that members are leaving for other departments because of “better medical packages and work environments.”