Conclusion

The Guardians are an organization of Black Hartford police officers founded in 1962 and still active today. In the late 1960s, they began organizing to demand that the department address racism within its ranks and administration. The first major action occurred in the summer of 1969, during which the Guardians released a list of grievances regarding discrimination within the HPD and orchestrated a sick-call protest. They received support from the Council of Police Societies, a national organization of Black police officers. The next year, the Guardians released a statement vowing to physically intervene should they witness bigotry or racial violence by a white officer. The Guardians continued to organize around internal discrimination through the 1980s, but no longer hold that role.

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The Guardians

The Guardians are an organization of Black Hartford police officers founded in 1962 and still active today. In the late 1960s, they began organizing to demand that the department address racism within its ranks and administration. The first major action occurred in the summer of 1969, during which the Guardians released a list of grievances regarding discrimination within the HPD and orchestrated a sick-call protest. They received support from the Council of Police Societies, a national organization of Black police officers. The next year, the Guardians released a statement vowing to physically intervene should they witness bigotry or racial violence by a white officer. The Guardians continued to organize around internal discrimination through the 1980s, but no longer hold that role.

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City Council Committee on Police use of Firearms

Abraham Rodriguez’s death (see above) was the third police shooting in Hartford within a month, and the second fatality. On March 14th, 1970, nineteen-year-old Gary Hansley was killed by plainclothes Officer Elden Thibodeau (see above, Gary “Mike” Hansley). On March 31st, William Casey, thirty nine, was shot four times outside his home by Officer David Quirk (see above, William Casey). Both victims were Black. The officers were found to be acting within department rules, which allow them to shoot in self-defense, or to stop a felon from fleeing.

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James McMillan

On May 3rd, 1971, twenty-three-year-old Hartford resident James McMillan was shot and killed by Bristol Police Officer Thur Hewitt while running away after being apprehended as a shoplifting suspect. After protests, Hewitt was suspended without pay because he had disobeyed the Bristol Police Department’s policy on deadly force, which is narrower than Hartford’s. The coroner’s report found Officer Hewitt criminally responsible for McMillan’s death, but the state’s attorney still decided not to prosecute. McMillan’s mother Leona sued Hewitt and the town of Bristol. There is no coverage of the outcome of the case, and it is safe to assume she lost, considering the failure of all similar cases during this time.

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Efrain Gonzalez

Efrain Gonzalez was killed with double-zero buckshot without provocation during a civil disturbance in July 1970. The coroner declared he had been shot by a policeman whose identity did not need to be discovered because he was not criminally responsible. The Gonzalez family filed a civil lawsuit against the city and members of the police force in 1971 and lost in 1975.

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Abraham Rodriguez

Officer Anthony Lombardi was in a car-turned-foot chase with nineteen-year-old Abraham Rodriguez. Lombardi shot and killed Rodriguez after cornering him in an alley. Lombardi was arrested for manslaughter, showered in public support, and then acquitted.

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William Casey

On March 31st, 1970, Officer David Quirk followed William Casey to his home after he ran a stop sign. Casey resisted arrest and attacked Officer Quirk with a pocketknife, and Quirk shot him four times in self-defense. Casey survived with serious injuries and was later convicted of aggravated assault and resisting an officer.

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Gary “Mike” Hansley​

Hansley, nineteen, was shot and killed by officer Elden Thibodeau after stealing a purse on March 14th, 1970. Thibodeau had acted within city guidelines which permit police officers to shoot in order to apprehend fleeing felons. The killing led to wide community outrage and spurred a wave of organizing to investigate the Hartford Police Department’s use of deadly force.

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Charles Jones

Charles Jones, thirty three, was shot in the head by Officer Daniel Herbert shortly after 3 am on September 2nd, 1969. Officer Herbert claimed that Jones had been looting the nearby 5 and 10 store; four witnesses claim he was just standing there. Jones was a prominent community worker who served as chairman of Model Neighborhoods Inc. He survived the shooting with severe brain damage and paralysis of the right side of his body. He sued in 1973 and lost.

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Dennis Jones

Dennis Jones, sixteen, was shot and killed by West Hartford Police Officer Keith G. Marshall in August 1969 as he fled a stolen car. Like many other Connecticut officers who killed young men in this era, Marshall was absolved of responsibility because Jones had committed a felony, empowering officers to shoot in order to prevent escape. This rule would later be ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 1985’s Tennessee v. Garner. Jones’ mother lost a lawsuit the next year alleging negligence on the part of Marshall and violations of her son’s constitutional rights.

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