© 2024 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bridgeport Officers Of Color Demand Chief's Removal

Bridgeport Police Department
Bridgeport Police Department
/
Facebook
Bridgeport Police Department

A group of Bridgeport police officers of color has called for the removal of Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia.

Bridgeport Guardians President Davon Polite sent a letter to Mayor Joe Ganim asking for Garcia to be removed from her post. He said their members have been “subjected to disparate treatment and a hostile work environment” under Garcia.

Polite went through a pre-trial probation program in 2018 after he beat the driver of a vehicle that hit his car while off-duty two years earlier. He was arrested but never pleaded guilty to any charges.

The city’s police union voted no confidence in Garcia back in March and asked Ganim to appoint another acting chief.

The mayor’s office disputed the vote, and Garcia refused to step down.