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Connecticut Black And Puerto Rican Caucus Host Roundtable On Police Reform

Connecticut Black and Puerto Rican Caucus
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A screenshot of the Roundtable on Transparent and Accountable Policing, hosted by the Connecticut Black and Puerto Rican Caucus on Monday.

Members of the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus held a virtual roundtable this week to discuss transparent and accountable policing in the state.

State Senator Gary Winfield of New Haven says part of the problem is the language police use in their reports. Last year a Hamden police officer fired his gun at an unarmed couple in their car.

“The officer ‘found himself in front of the vehicle.’ That kind of language written into reports is nonsense and is written into reports for the very specific reason of not saying what actually happened. No one found themselves in front of a vehicle, they placed themselves in front of a vehicle and it’s galling for that to be the way a report is written.”

State Representative Anthony Nolan, who is also a New London police officer, says things have to change.

“We all know it’s not all police officers. I work with them every day. And for me to be here talking as loud as I am, in regards to them, I will get the silent treatment. I get police officers from out of town, coming to my neighborhood to tell me to shut up. ‘You talk too much, you’re instigating, you’re making it difficult for us.’ Police officers do things wrong and get away with it too much. Tighten up on them. They don’t like it, then stop doing it.”

Governor Ned Lamont says he wants to strengthen state laws against racial discrimination and abuse by police, including a stricter mandate for police body and dashboard cameras. 

Protests against police brutality continue for a second week in Connecticut. 

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