New Haven Independent

The three spoke Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at the local NAACP headquarters in Dixwell Plaza. They invited the public to a community forum about the scandal at the Elks Club, Webster Street and Dixwell Avenue, next Tuesday night, March 27, starting at 7 p.m.

And they argued that the FBI arrests of two narcotics cops reveal a larger problem with law enforcement, raising the question of how allegedly rampant bribe-taking and theft festered without anyone in authority noticing. (Click here, here, and here, for background on the scandal.)

Jefferson, a criminal defense attorney who chairs the state African-American Affairs Commission, identified what he called “the burning question”: How did the Board of Police Commissioners, the city’s civilian review board, and the police department’s internal affairs unit all “fail to detect this activity or in fact to uncover this activity?”

“The city has failed in its duty to serve and protect its citizens from this abuse, and the leadership has failed the black community in particular,” Jefferson said. Click on the play arrow below to watch him describe the Burning Question.

Contacted after the press conference, acting mayoral spokesman Rob Smuts responded to the question. “People can say, ‘How can you not know there were rumors?’ But there were no complaints before the bodies [mentioned by Jefferson]. If there were, we would have looked into them.”

Next Tuesday night’s forum will consist of two parts. Part one: Invited speakers detailing the history of Lt. Billy White’s work with the police department and other issues of police misconduct; scheduled speakers include attorney John R. Williams, who has made a career out of suing the police. Part two: An open mic for citizens to address the subject for up to three minutes each; call 776-2662 to sign up in advance.

Three Faces, 1 Opposition

Tuesday’s press conference presented the face of an emerging opposition to the DeStefano administration in a black community, and a city, where City Hall goes largely unchallenged. The press conference’s three speakers have been among the three most visible and vocal critics of police misconduct for as close to two decades:

• Jefferson helped organize the city’s first civilian review board.

• Scot X. Esdaile, president of the statewide and Greater New Haven chapters of the NAACP, publicly pressed complaints about narc unit cops, in pursuit of a drug suspect, spraying a playground where kids were playing. Police Chief Francisco Ortiz credted Esdaile’s outspokenness with leading him to transfer Lt. Billy White from his post as head of the narc unit, a decision he later retracted after a meeting with the mayor about the way transfers were being handled. (Click here to read about that.)

• Roger Vann, who heads the Connecticut ACLU, used to run the statewide and New Haven NAACP chapters. In that capacity he led a successful push for state legislation aimed at curbing police profiling of blacks and Latinos.

Vann spoke of the need for everyday citizens to attend next Tuesday’s forum to speak about their experiences with the police.

“There is no vocal opposition in this city around these issues,” Vann said. “We need to organize that.”

He also emphasized that organizers weren’t seeking to “bash law enforcement” or hard-working rank-and-file cops. Instead, he said, they seek to “take the cover off what seems to be a systematic breakdown in the police department.” Click on the play arrow below to watch his remarks.

Esdaile called the unfolding saga “the biggest police scandal in the history of New Haven… I’m getting 200 phone calls a day on this issue. People in bars are having celebration parties. Our community has been tortured for 30 years. It is left unchecked.”

Reporters pressed the speakers during and after the press conference, with little success, for specifics on other cases involving the arrested cops or other narc unit members. Click on the play arrow below to watch an exchange between Channel 3’s Leon Collins and Michael Jefferson.

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