Mayors don’t want to run police departments unless, maybe, you’ve been a police chief. Cop houses for sturdy politicians can grow into instant kryptonite rendering mere mortals, let alone superhuman, into a complete mess of radioactivity. Hide the whiskey bottle and revolver, please!
Good, bad or ugly police response to the untimely deaths of two women has created a media feeding frenzy fanned by a cross section of local groups, some with their own selfish agendas, creating pressure points for government response. Nature of the beast. Opportunists abound.
It doesn’t help when the acting police chief, in this case Rebeca Garcia, is media shy. A police chief must communicate with the public he/she represents, firstly as a pragmatic obligation to build community trust otherwise the default contact gets kicked upstairs to the chief executive where the focus becomes as much political as governmental.
There’s been some hullabaloo about Mayor Joe Ganim’s media policy in which department heads are instructed to contact the communications director regarding media requests. This is not unusual. The deeper question goes to how much the administration wants to control the message in lieu of basic information going out the door and the public’s right to know.
The Ganim administration screwed up a few weeks ago when it initially blocked the release of a four-page letter (under the guise of an on-going investigation) written by a returning-from-vacation Garcia spelling out her timeline actions involving the two deaths. Days later it was released.
Multiple media outlets have made attempts to interview Garcia, the requests were granted. Entreaties were made to the chief. She was not gagged. She just flat out didn’t want to do them, even with administration-friendly outlets such as News 12.
Funny how things play out, the Ganim administration is like a welcome wagon of information compared to the administration of Bill Finch whose tight media operation bit down harder than an Andersen window.
This is not a condemnation of Garcia’s overall job performance as chief. Garcia simply negotiates against herself by eschewing response to public questions. There are ways to accomplish this, without the ambush of a news conference, tailored to her comfort level. The city has a mighty social media platform that can be leveraged to communicate with the public: Facebook, Twitter, website.
She can do regular into the camera outreach sharing information about police response, patrol, status of cases, timeline of events, personnel moves, without compromising the integrity of investigations. Load it on the Police/Government Facebook page. It’s better than nothing.
Last week, Ganim and Garcia had such a Facebook moment into the camera joining Acting Fire Chief Lance Edwards to announce a high-ranking department official placed on administrative leave following complaint of an alleged sexual assault.
Garcia’s service as chief has been no picnic, appointed under extraordinary circumstances following the arrest and resignation of her predecessor for cheating the 2018 top cop test.
She did not ask for the job, but when you raise your hand it changes everything. The police department is currently a rats’ nest of internal squabbling led by a rift between a Latina chief and Black officers who assert her discipline is heavy-handed compared to her so-called favorites. Many Black officers want her out.
Garcia has her supporters too who embrace her independent persona, discipline and keeping guard on the overtime spigot that is mother’s milk for cops.
Meanwhile, the clock has begun to select a permanent police chief for appointment later this year. The Ganim administration must poise uber transparent on releasing process information to immunize against perception of a rudderless police ship. That means regular contact with the community about timeline, key dates, hiring of an expert recruitment firm assisting the Office of Civil Service with crafting the open and competitive examination, national advertisements, meetings with community stakeholders, qualifications required to apply, the panel selected to recommend the top three applicants for a mayoral appointment approved by the City Council as spelled out by the City Charter
If you’re a mayor during these times you hope you can get through this period without the police department completely unraveling. Keeping intense focus on the national search at the very least spells out priorities while reminding constituencies that soon a new leader will be in town.
Meanwhile, the clock has begun to select a permanent police chief for appointment later this year. The Ganim administration must poise uber transparent on releasing process information to immunize against perception of a rudderless police ship. That means regular contact with the community about timeline, key dates, hiring of an expert recruitment firm assisting the Office of Civil Service with crafting the open and competitive examination, national advertisements, meetings with community stakeholders, qualifications required to apply, the panel selected to recommend the top three applicants for a mayoral appointment approved by the City Council as spelled out by the City Charter.
How can anybody trust testing from civil service after the cheating scandal for the last police chief exam, Randi Frank Associate has been doing the testing for both the fire and police, how can they be trusteed when they gave David Dunn the answers for the exam. What experience does the new personnel director has with selecting any testing company. Are we to believe that no one in that office knew nothing that Dunn was doing?
At least his hairline is transparent.
I thought that I was the only has been noticing the hairline.
“…The police department is currently a rats nest of internal squabbling led by a rift between a Latina chief and Black officers who assert her discipline is heavy-handed compared to her so-called favorites. Many Black officers want her out.
“Meanwhile, the clock has begun to select a permanent police chief for appointment later this year. The Ganim administration must poise uber transparent on releasing process information to immunize against perception of a rudderless police ship. That means regular contact with the community about timeline, key dates, hiring of an expert recruitment firm assisting the Office of Civil Service with crafting the open and competitive examination, national advertisements, meetings with community stakeholders, qualifications required to apply, the panel selected to recommend the top three applicants for a mayoral appointment approved by the City Council as spelled out by the City Charter
“If you’re a mayor during these times you hope you can get through this period without the police department completely unraveling. Keeping intense focus on the national search at the very least spells out priorities while reminding constituencies that soon a new leader will be in town.”
It’s deja vu/Ground Hog Day all over again (6 more weeks of G2?!)… Is this G1, G2, or an alternative-universe view of the Bucci Administration?!
Beyond surreal…
It is sometimes difficult to say what we would like to see specifically in the future because…..we have seen so much go of the tracks in the past?
In this column under the picture that Lenny used to accompany his major opus not one person seems happy, proud, or necessarily leader like, to me. Perhaps it is because two of them are ‘ACTING’ and the other one is just plain acting?
(If you are following national politics, the Senior Senator from Kentucky declares he has no policy but to beat up Biden administration for everything while a Republican manager of Senatorial candidates has offered a smattering of policy statements for those Senators running for positions as Republicans who wish to run with an announced policy brand.) What is the Ganim2 policy after COVID 19? Is actual TRANSPARENCY likely to be part of what is delivered?
Whoever gets the nod to lead the Police force, I suggest that they read OIB comments before signing on the dotted line. I hope that learning and personal intelligence is the approach they take in up to date policing. It is clear from the Civil Service connection to former Chief AJ Perez that he was afraid of being tested and fear does unpleasant damage to one’s behavior code.
Experience with integrity issues is another life experience I hope that a new chief will demonstrate public success with. Living a value filled professional life will be necessary to hit 300 Congress Street and be a force for necessary change. Among these will be an understanding of a “white supremacy” culture where fairness and equity do not seem to regularly rule and where the courts, at taxpayer expense for legal counsel and/or settlements has been too common.
Being more accountable for issues of discipline, assignment of overtime, and working to train and expect more objective attention to the public they meet and pledge to serve and protect will also be necessary if the women and men who secure a position, can serve in them for a safe career with opportunities for advancement through achievement. Time will tell.
John Marshall Lee, that train left the station some years ago. The Bridgeport Guardians and Mayor Joe Ganim made a deal to get rid of Federal Court Judge, TF Gilroy Daly decision to have a “Special Master” to monitor the running of the BPD. It was supposed to help with community base policing, where is it now, JML the issues you listed plus especially race and all of problems dealing with race are still there but now with NO “Special Master” there’s nobody there to monitor the BPD.
Ron,
Did the Feds forsake the City? Brian Lockhart has looked at our history of inability to handle funds, public safety, and the possibility 4-5 years ago of Housing ending in the same place because oversight from HUD showed blight!!
Would you ask for regular and substantial oversight and enforcement for Public Safety again? The patterns and practices of this Department do not provide confidence to anyone that professional leadership, with personal intelligence and integrity, is in charge of a well-trained group of certified officers who do not discriminate on any basis in their service to the public, do not forcibly use their considerable powers, and are believed to be fair and just as public servants to their fellow officers and citizens in general. Why is another request to the Federal Justice folks out of the question in your opinion? 2013 indicated the loss of Federal oversight, before I was paying attention. How about you? Time will tell.
JML, you said, “why is another request to the Federal Justice folks out of the question in your opinion? 2013 indicated the loss of Federal oversight, before I was paying attention. How about you? Time will tell.” JML, that’s an easy question to answer, the Guardians haven’t said anything or put anything together to go to court with to make their case against, trust me there’s more than enough out there, just read the media.
Bridgeport PD has been the same since I was little girl.