Fair, Esdaile, Spell, and Grady.
Two retired law enforcement professionals and two lifelong activists committed to holding the police accountable arrived at City Hall to receive honors from the Board of Alders for their work on opposite sides of the uniform.
The unlikely group had been convened to receive honorary citations at the same time for a reason: to bridge two groups often seen as irreconcilable by celebrating their achievements. “We have to be in the same place,” said Beaver Hills Alder Shafiq Abdussabur, a retired police sergeant.
Abdussabur (who resigned from the legislative body on Thursday due to a government contract for which his company applied) had proposed the citations for police and prison reform advocate Barbara Fair, Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile, local violence intervention leader and former detective Stacy Spell, and FBI Public Affairs Specialist Charles Grady.
Barbara Fair was the first of the four to receive a citation. Fair is one of the state’s leading voices opposing solitary confinement in prison. In addition to spearheading an organization called Stop Solitary CT, Fair has spent decades advocating for police accountability, sentencing reform, and other prison overhauls — working on a grassroots level while leveraging political systems.
“As a police officer, I have been on the wrong side of Barbara and I have found my way to the right side,” said Abdussabur, commending Fair for her “outstanding community service.”
Abdussabur gives out citations.
Next, Abdussabur called up Scot X Esdaile.
“He has done everything he can do for the community to get better,” Abdussabur said of Esdaile.
Esdaile has led the state’s NAACP branch since 2004. In that role, he’s worked to create opportunities for people transitioning out of incarceration, enlisting 27 hospitals to join the “One Million Jobs” effort and hire formerly incarcerated employees. Esdaile also runs violence intervention initiatives across the country and produces a Connecticut hip-hop TV show called That Life, which provides a platform for young people to discuss political issues. In February, he won a national “activist of the year” award from the national NAACP organization.
Abdussabur additionally honored Charlie Grady, who began his career in law enforcement as a Hamden cop.
“Everybody loved him,” Abdussabur said.
Grady eventually moved on to head the statewide version of Project Longevity. He eventually joined the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the department’s outreach and public affairs work. Outside of work, Grady founded Her Time, a Bridgeport-based organization assisting women whose loved ones have been incarcerated. He also co-wrote and produced a play about the transition out of prison.
Finally, a citation was awarded to Stacy Spell, a former police detective who now heads the city’s Project Longevity program. Project Longevity targets the people suspected to be most at risk of shooting someone or getting shot. At “call-ins” with these individuals, law enforcement officers and relatives of shooting victims speak about the consequences of gun violence. Then, the program offers assistance with finding jobs, housing, and substance use treatment for those who choose in that moment to escape a cycle of violence.
Calling Spell “one of my mentors,” Abdussabur told him, “You have shined a light on what we can do besides having a gun” — and modeled what a meaningful post-police life can look like.
Congratulations to Barbara Fair, Scot X. Esdaile, Stacy Spell, and Charles Grady for their honorable citation from the city for their contributions to the city.