Arrests Follow Carjackings, Crash

Clearly, New Haven doesn't need any policing.

It seems we should absolutely de-fund the police. Next time, the carjackers can get away smoothly and sell the stolen cars. Heck, maybe they can even shoot someone since there will be zero repercussions.

Remember this November if you love anarchy violence, carjackings, riots, and property destruction- vote blue!

Carjackings with firearms with multiple incidents. The suspects when identified and arrested should be locked up for a long time. It will be their personal reward for their behavior and rightly earned.

Have y'all ever thought to explore an idea and read about it before dismissing it offhandedly?

Defunding the police is not eliminating law enforcement, but reallocating funds so that they are not a tool for every problem in society and so that those funds can be redirected into other resources and programs. Part of the idea is to address societal inequalities and get rid of the reasons behind property crimes, rather than simply letting the drastic levels of inequality exist and then using police to react when people inevitably commit these property crimes. And with a whole lot of people about to be kicked out of their homes, since all we did as a government was delay the time when evictions would happen, things are only about to get worse in that sense.

I know you've heard it before, but when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail...

The defund the police movement is absolutely about eliminating law enforcement. Just watch the video of Mayor Frey of Minneapolis getting boo'd out of a rally because he would not commit to full abolition of MPD.

To mike melanson

After 21 years in the Hartford Police Department and still working in that city I still see the day to day activity by police. Officers are working non stop with dispatched call for service and that leaves little time for any community its policing initiatives or work to suppress crime in troubled neighborhoods.

So y'all I've given it a lot of thought.

Social service response is slow and volume is too high. Police response time is so much quicker all the time. Police respond to many social issues because of the inaction and failure of overwhelmed social agencies.

Defund the police? Not a good idea. I don't want to be Seattle.

Have a nice day.

Chris - that's exactly it, the police are overused. They are made to fix far too many situations that should be handled by other agencies and organizations that are better outfitted to handle those issues. The funding needs to move to those social services so that they can better respond. Guns and handcuffs are not solutions for mental health issues, for example.

As for MPD, I believe that part of the issue is that they believe that the force there is corrupt and rotten to the core, as was the Camden police force once deemed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_County_Police_Department

Mike Melanson- good point.
Chris246- also good point.
Carjacking is a violent crime. Offenders need to be taken off the streets. But locking them up and throwing away the key until they're out isn't going to fix the problem. When they get out they are going to be even more angry and hardened. They need to be provided intensive therapy while in lockup to help them look at the world differently when they get out, so that they can be an asset to the community.
What we need to do is identify teens and young people at risk and intervene BEFORE they commit crimes. Young people in the city have very few things to keep them busy, and with the pandemic and economy collapse, there are even less things to do. Young men, especially, have a tendency to do stupid, boneheaded acts of daring and risk, trying to prove their toughness, braveness, and because they're bored. Not everybody is into sports, not everybody can be on a sports team, and with the pandemic, even the sports players are shut down. We are going to have a long, hot summer with angry, scared and desperate people. What can we do to keep young people busy with productive, helpful and non-boring activities to keep them on the right path this year? How can we engage young people to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem? Can we identify areas where we need volunteers and have Social Influencers buddy up with organizations to help make a positive impact on our society? Since food insecurity is an issue especially in the city, can we expand community gardens and have young people help grow and harvest more fresh, healthy food for their neighborhoods? Prisons with garden programs have seen a tremendous difference in the attitude of their prisoners when they joined the garden program . Same with prisons with inmates training dogs to assist the handicapped. If those programs helped hardened criminals to become happier, and calmer, why wouldn't they help angry, bored, frustrated young people?

Unfortunately, as previous articles have revealed, many of these criminals are caught and released multiple times, sometimes 4 or 5 times in a month! Most aren't selling them. Most are joy-riding or just using someone else's car in place of the bus. That's where their missing values come in. Parents and grandparents are supposed to teach values. It is not a harmless crime. If your son or daughter or grandkid is stealing cars, shame on you.
My neighbors work hard to pay for their cars and when they are stolen, insurance doesn't fully reimburse for the loss - often not covering the loan payments left. For many, their car is their dream that they saved for for years and still had to take out 5 year loans to get. So some punk can come and steal it and crash it for the thrill. They need to spend time locked up to think about just how many lives they ruined and how bad their parents were. People cant climb out of poverty if they keep getting set back as they try.

Welcome to our new norm, New Haven. The press release said one of these criminals is under 16 years old and has 5 felony arrests in the past 8 months.

Luckily nobody was killed. Pointing guns at people? Crashing cars? They think they're playing a video game and we allow it!

If you want it to stop, make your local and state representatives, as well as district attorneys and judges feel the heat.

Do these kids realize how dangerous it is to point a gun at someone. The someone you point that BB gun at may not see it for what it is. If they have a license to carry they very well might end your life. Please kids think before you point a gun at somebody . Ending someones life for a ride may put you away for the rest of yours. And that's the best thing that could happen.