New Haven Independent: Ortiz Weighs In On Triple Crises

Ortiz Weighs In On Triple Crises

by Melissa Bailey | June 13, 2007 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

As the city reels from two homicides, federal immigration raids have Fair Haven on edge, and a rabbi who formed an armed citizen’s patrol is calling for his ouster, Police Chief Cisco Ortiz spoke up in defense of his department Wednesday. “I’m not going anywhere,” he declared.

At a press conference Wednesday to reveal the opening of a new consolidated 911/ police dispatch center, Ortiz fielded questions on the public safety “crises” that have been propelling New Haven into the national spotlight.

Citizens With Guns

Ortiz has taken particular heat of late from Edgewood, where an 18-year-old man was shot Tuesday. Responding to an assault on his son, angered Rabbi Daniel Greer has called community policing “dead” saying crime is so bad that Ortiz needs to go, and citizens need to patrol the streets themselves with guns.

“I’m not going anywhere,” responded Ortiz Wednesday, maintaining the department’s community policing mission was working and such drastic measures were not needed. “I’m proud of what we do here. I’m fortunate to lead one of the greatest police departments in the nation.”

Does he support Greer’s vigilante team? “We don’t support an armed patrol, but we do support teamwork,” responded Ortiz. He said residents should absolutely help police their own neighborhoods, just not with guns: “The armed aspect of this we think is too risky — it’s unnecessary and dangerous.”

While he would not accept Greer’s call for his ouster, Ortiz said lines of communication remain open between Greer’s group and the police department, and he would “continue to listen and help.”

Greer was scheduled to meet today with the Guardian Angels, a group that would train local residents to patrol their own neighborhoods, without weapons. Mayor John DeStefano welcomed the collaboration: “Frankly, we’d be glad to partner with the Guardian Angels,” he said Wednesday. Ortiz agreed.

Two Murdered

After a freakish five months without a single homicide, the city has seen five in the last thirty days. DeStefano said police have determined a motive in the first three homicides, among which there “were not any common threads.” He said the city is confident perps will be found: “We feel we will clear all three.”

In the fourth and fifth homicides, two men were shot in close proximity Tuesday: At 4:23 p.m. at 784 George St., 30-year-old Angel Rovira was confronted and shot at two times, according to Lt. Patrick Redding. The man, who lived at 135 Derby Ave, was hit by one bullet and died several hours later at the hospital. Redding said there were “a great many people” on the scene, and those people are cooperating with police.

A few hours later at 10:18 p.m., 18-year-old Tailor Coward was shot near the big sundial in Edgewood Park. Witnesses heard four to six gunshots. The teen emerged from the park, near Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Chapel Street, with several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead in the hospital.

Given the proximity of the two crime scenes, police have not ruled out a connection between the two murders, but found no evidence linking the two, according to the mayor.

“We quite clearly recognize the anxiety in our neighborhoods” in response to recent crime, said Ortiz.

The chief and the mayor responded by producing stats that show shootings, murders and overall crime are all down compared to 2006 and 2005. Overall crime is down by 8 percent compared to this point last year; the 402 shootings represent a drop of 2 percent over 2006 and 5 percent over 2005; and murders are down as well. There have been five murders so far this year, compared with eight at this time in 2006 and 7 in 2005.

The Raids

Did the chief of police think the federal government acted appropriately in raiding Fair Haven homes, collecting at least 29 allegedly illegal immigrants last Wednesday, two days after the city approved the creation of a municipal ID available to all residents regardless of immigration status?

“Our concern is we were not notified” in advance of the raids, said Ortiz. He echoed the complaints issued by the mayor at this press conference, charging the feds had violated civil rights and internal protocol when they swept through Fair Haven.

New Digs

The good news Wednesday: The fire department 911 call center has merged with the police department dispatcher unit, consolidated into a newly renovated room at police headquarters. (Click here for City Hall’s press release on the merger.)

The fire department, which formerly answered all 911 calls from a dreary subterranean bomb shelter in the basement of the Hall of Records, moved its operations Tuesday into One Union Ave. The new consolidation will allow for “interoperability” between departments, police and fire officials said. The design and construction for the facility, which will handle the city’s roughly one million emergency calls per year, cost $1.9 million.

Right now, when someone calls 911, fire department dispatchers determine if the call is a police-worthy call, then transfers the call to the PD. For the average caller dialing up with a police complaint, the move will mean fewer dropped calls and shorter waiting time in making that transition, according to Sgt. Robert Muller, who’s in charge of the police half of the operation.

Betsy Saraniti (pictured) tried out the new digs Wednesday, answering a call of BB pellets being fired at a United Illuminating truck. She’s been on the job eight years. Behind her stood Ronnie Hobson, president of union local 8844. He’s been answering calls since 1988, when dispatchers wrote down incidents on note cards, then placed the cards on conveyer belts to be sent to supervisors.

“This is state of the art,” Hobson said of the new facility.

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Comments

Posted by: cedarhillresident | June 13, 2007 7:12 PM

OMG the sh** has hit the fan. We told you things where out of control, we begged for help. You in turn gave us the apparence of help.
New Haveners (all New Haveners) are tired! We are tired of paying and not getting. We need the state police in here to clean up the street of the bad guys! Once this city is back in control then we can move on. Summer is the time were it is out in the streets. Which make for an easyer bust. Once winter comes and it is behind closed doors there is not to much that can be done.

Don't through stats at us. Who are we trying to fool the press?? Because the people of the city are living here, and guess what we are not being fooled.

although I do stand by Ortiz and our officers I think that this city is far more out of control than they relize or maybe they just don't wamt to admit to it.

A few months ago I may have said work with the police yea right, they won't work with us they hide....but we have a new sherif in town that is a people person, that understands people and is working one on one with our community and is a model of a great community officer. Clone Her! and her squad.

-Make this the year of the youth
-make this the year New Haven becomes one.
-But make this the summer New Haven becomes safe again.

Posted by: bugupit | June 13, 2007 7:17 PM

How will this impact the problem of NO ANSWER at the non-life-emergency NHPD dispatch line, 946-6316? Shift change is no excuse.

Posted by: ConCern | June 13, 2007 7:30 PM

Chief Ortiz is right, he (and the department) are not going anywhere.

Our defensive, statistic quoting, community policing dismantling Chief of Police Ortiz just does not get it.

Ask a question that might seem too agressive, the Chief wraps himself with the mantle of praise for the officers and the reams of crimes statistics. He does not listen to people. It is almost as if you have to thump him on the head to get him to pay attention to you. Case in point the arm patrols. Bring in the State Police.

Chief Ortiz has lost the confidence of his officers and the residents of the city. He needs to retire or move on with some consultant, like the one New Haven hired in the wake of the BIlly White scandal.

Chief, stop telling us how safe the city is when we are telling you different. Do you think we are doing this just to complain or bother you?

Have your media person thump you on the head or give you a mild shock each time you get defensive with your statistics when the citizens demand the safety they deserve.

If things dont change, there will be more armed patrols, and more armed citizens in New Haven. Then it will really be time to get out of Dodge.

Posted by: Esbe | June 13, 2007 9:19 PM

Oritz really did dismantle community policing in this town and the result was really bad. I find it hard to believe that he is the right person to get us out of the mess we are in.

5 in 30 days and school is still in session -- what happens next month?

Posted by: WEBbloger 1 | June 13, 2007 9:53 PM

Chief Ortiz:

We know you are there... listen up!
I have always supported you, but please loose those statistics. They just do not cut it any more You have admitted the stats were never reported to the federal government.

Many New Havener's are losing confidence in the NHPD's ability and willingness to get the job done. It appears that the top brass and the union are not working together. We realize that you are not pre-crime investigation, however your lack of pre-crime presence is contributing to the lack of confidence by residents and, the criminal's elevated lack of concern for the police, is showing up in their boldness. For example: Noise is rampant throughout the city, despite your new noise meters. Cars running wild through city streets. The wait time for police response is in the hours. Traffic accidents go un-covered. civil disobedience is increasing. At the same time ticketing and towing is all ahead full. It seems as if you have your priorities bent.

Nevertheless I'm happy to see that you are committed to continuing in the struggle. The question is, are your supporters, those who have your back, are they really behind you??

Posted by: visions | June 13, 2007 10:15 PM

we need more cops point blank! stop blaming the chief! Blame the city for not having an adequete
budget to house more police ofcrs on the streets
This city is in trouble and thats no secret, as the crisis in this city continues residents as well as the police are forced into a harsh reality that this city has not seen in decades. together we stand divided we fall. Step up now to all who want to make a difference!

Posted by: TrueBlueCT | June 14, 2007 2:02 AM

I predict Chief Ortiz will not last through a long, hot summer....

Posted by: on whalley | June 14, 2007 8:38 AM

On being tires of paying and not getting, I recently recieved my auto tax bill with a little letter telling me this tax would ensure New Haven was a safe and livable place. Can we put together a class action suit against the city based on this wholly inaccurate statement?

My city is neither safe nor livable and I'm looking for a way out ASAP.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | June 14, 2007 4:06 PM

ok lets all take a moment to laugh

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b115/happypixie36/stateofthecity.gif

Posted by: guest | June 14, 2007 8:35 PM

Wow, finally posters are saying what I have been saying.

I agree: 1. lose the crime stats, they are bull- they are unaudited and even audited stats are bull, ask any criminology professor. They havne't been submitted to the feds for YEARS. The feds won't accept unaudited stats.

2. crime is bad

3. too many top cops aren't smart enough, don;t listen and don't care. A guy who has attended the community feedback sessions on the police has testified about what would be grave misconduct by officers. Weeks after he testified at the Elks/ACLU meeting, he showed up at the city PERF meeting and told the same story. No one from PD even bothered to look into his claims in the weeks that passed between those meetings. Proof. That's proof. Disingenous lip service. City groups should submit civil rights complaints to the Dept of justice civil rights division. Are you listening Westbrook, Jefferson, NAACP and others? A better political moment to get the DOJ's civil rights division's attention could not be imagined.

4. the biggest problem with the dispatch center is the PEOPLE. what do you get for $30K a year? glad the new center is better, but what about staff and training? Go see a center that works! Lucky no one has died -- maybe someone has - not like they are going to put out a press release about it.

Posted by: guest | June 14, 2007 8:43 PM

I am with you, "on whalley"

I am told -- don't walk in edgewood park in the daytime except near the tennis courts, if that.

don't walk downtown in the day time because that's when juana cole was gunned down in broad daylight.

i am scared to go to concerts on the green.

exactly what is livable about this scenario? i feel like a prisoner.

and there is more -- don't try to enter a dialogue with the chief- he says he wants one but he won't trust you enough to get into one and he will treat you with disrespect.

He says call me, but you can't call him.

Posted by: Taxed To Death | June 15, 2007 5:02 AM

I'm laughing with CedarHill..thanks for the brief respite from despair.

To Vision: Clean your glasses my friend -- we're taxed to death. Under King John New Haven (which is not the largest city in CT) will have the largest police force in the state. We do not lack for budgeted police positions. They are having trouble recruiting for the cop shop but the DeStefano Administration is definitely charging us for them. But it's more than having a lot of cops -- it's managing them and surging them into neighbhorhoods and hot spots where and when needed. This idea that you need lots of cops everywhere is just silly and a waste of resources. Everybody knows where the problems are -- now, it's a matter of putting resources there. I agree with dropping the crime stats -- I'd love to see an audit of the police reports to see how closely they align with those stats -- lol bet it's not close -- but it sounds good on the campaign beat.

New Haven Independent

Ortiz Weighs In On Triple Crises

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