Paul Bass photo
Newly approved Commissioner Rhonda Caldwell at a 2019 rally calling for the firing of Hamden Police Officer Devin Eaton.
Five Hamden residents with diverse policing perspectives have officially taken over Hamden’s Police Commission — after a final debate over whether citizens who question police policies should be involved in decision-making on public safety.
Hamden’s Legislative Council voted Tuesday night to move forward with all of Mayor Lauren Garrett’s nominees for the commission, a volunteer crew charged with reviewing the police department’s budget; voting on departmental hirings and promotions; hearing complaints of misconduct as well as making recommendations concerning possible action; and consulting with the town’s engineering, planning, and public works departments as concurrent members of the local traffic authority.
Read more here about new appointees Rhonda Caldwell, Daniel Dunn, Frank LaDore, Vaughn Willis, and Elaine Dove — who together bring professional expertise in social work, law enforcement, data analysis, and racial justice to the table.
The vote was not unanimous. Three Republicans against Caldwell and Dunn, who are members of the Democratic and Working Families parties, respectively. Three Democrats voted against LaDore, who is a Republican.
The appointees promise a leftward shift for the commission, including people more willing to criticize policing policies, which has sparked debate since Garrett’s submitted the names of the nominees for approval.
The majority of that discussion circled around Rhonda Caldwell, a social justice organizer who works with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. Caldwell was an outspoken participant in 2019’s and 2020’s Black Lives Matters protests.
Over 30 individuals wrote letters to the Council both in favor of or against putting Caldwell on the commission. The majority of those notes called for reprimanding the voice of one Council member, Republican Marjorie Bonadies.
Bonadies was the most vocal critic of Caldwell. In one attempt to keep her off the Commission, she posted a two-year-old bogus claim on Facebook from the registrar of voters accusing Caldwell of “voter fraud.” Shortly after Bonadies spread that message, the Registrar issued a memo retracting her original claim. Read more about that incident here.
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, Bonadies addressed her actions following criticism from both the public and other Council members — by stating her “regret that the paperwork that I posted was retracted by our Registrar. I took the Registrar’s letter as being complete, thoughtful, and truthful. I do regret that that was not the case. But that was the right thing to do.”
She maintained her stance on Caldwell’s appointment: “I’m very disappointed in the mayor for putting forward a very divisive nominee,” she said.
Republican Councilwoman Betty Wetmore also voted against Caldwell’s nomination. She claimed Caldwell “has clearly shown she is anti-police” and cited Caldwell’s “protesting police,” “giving out the home address of a police commissioner,” and calling to “defund the police and reallocate funds to benefit Districts 3 and 5,” two of Hamden’s southern-most districts which disproportionately house the Black and Brown members of the predominantly white town.
Democratic Councilwoman Laurie Sweet offered a different take on questioning police policy: “The strongest Police Commission is not one made up of like minded individuals,” such as those, she said, who describe themselves as “pro-police.”
“Prior to Rhonda’s activism,” Sweet said, “the Police Commission had no way of receiving complaints.” She said that Caldwell created the Commission an email address to ensure they were not out of line with the Charter.
“Rhonda is not anti-police. Rhonda is pro-accountability. Rhonda is pro-community.
“Hamden is lucky that Rhonda is willing to lend her voice to the Commission despite the voices of a small number of loud people who have tried to silence her.”
Council President Dominique Baez said the criticism of Caldwell has “more than reached the Council loud and clear.”
“We as a council need to be accountable to each other, have a level of respect and decorum … In the past we’ve gotten criticism for behavior our council people have done and we will not be continuing that behavior going forward.”
In the future, she said, she’ll be instating a “rules committee.” If those rules “are crossed, there will be discipline to follow.”
No reasons were publicly offered for the votes against LaDore.
Councilwoman Katie Kiely at Tuesday's meeting: "We have to be careful of buzzwords."
Democratic Councilwoman Katie Kiely spoke up about the importance of tempering behavior by Council members across party lines in order to ensure maximum engagement from residents who hold diverse beliefs and represent different neighborhoods and communities.
“One of the reasons I joined the Legislative Council is because I think it’s so important to make sure that every resident has access to government. We can only do that if we allow them to do that without assassinating their character, without intimidating them, without mischaracterizing statements that they have made,” Kiely said. “I’m very disappointed because this has happened not just to one, but several nominees,” she added, by both Democrats and Republicans in the past.
“I’d like to address what I think is that actual issue at hand,” she added, which is whether or not individuals who some argue have an “anti-police bias” should serve on a commission that regulates policing. “I think that is a completely debatable topic,” she said, and one that she wished the Council had spent more time digging into.
“We have to be careful of buzzwords and using that as fear tactics,” she said, addressing the Republican Councilpersons’ arguments that anyone who speaks of “defunding” the Police should be unwelcome on the Commission.
“When I hear people say we need more social workers in school,” said Kiely, who works as an elementary school teacher, “I absolutely do not think they’re saying to fire all the teachers.”
“What they’re saying is that as a teacher I cannot do all things. Police officers cannot and nor should they do all things.”
She echoed those who spoke out in support of Caldwell: “I am so thankful that Mayor Garrett put forth Miss Caldwell because she is literally the only person I can think of who is actually able to see this issue, who has done the work in communities that have been harmed, who has actually put forward suggestions … I also appreciate that Miss Garrett has put forth other nominees with other perspectives,” she added, citing Frank LaDore, the chairman of the Republican Town Committee.
“We have seen what happens with group think, when everyone just says yes,” she concluded. The Commission is “gonna need to have tough discussions.”
“No reasons were publicly offered for the votes against LaDore.”
Why not simply “guilt by association (with trumpism)”? If local, well-educated Republicans not only tolerated but encouraged the foul mouthed “white-identity politics” of Trump, they should be held accountable. The Trump phenomenon was unacceptable in civilized America. My guess is LaDore is smart enough to know what fascist rhetoric is, yet he played along. And this is arguably Hamden’s BEST Republican…. So It should tell us something. Let’s bring back sincere and decent hearted fiscal conservatives to the debate instead of all this MAGA insanity.