Judge Karen Dooley dissolves Cintron, ruling all pending violations inconsequential. She affirms the intention of the consent decree, and recommends that future efforts of police reform move within the powers of “the police department itself, the City of Hartford, and the greater Hartford community.”
Judge Karen Dooley dissolves Cintron, ruling all pending violations inconsequential. She affirms the intention of the consent decree, and recommends that future efforts of police reform move within the powers of “the police department itself, the City of Hartford, and the greater Hartford community.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.