In Wake Of Hamden Homicides, A Call For A Broader Look At Crime Prevention

After two homicides shook the town in a week, the Hamden Legislative Council began its first meeting of June with a moment of silence.

Then came words — about what to do about it.

Councilman Mick McGarry called for the 60 seconds of quiet in response to a series of tragic shootings that have taken place in Hamden recently.

Early on Sunday morning, a 29-year-old man was taken to the hospital to undergo surgery after being shot in the parking lot of 940 Dixwell Ave. A little over an hour after that shooting, another man was pronounced dead after ​“multiple gunshots” were heard coming from Hamden Park Drive.

That morning Hamden police also arrested a 37-year-old Meriden man on multiple weapons charges after an encounter and chase, according to police spokesperson Capt. Ron Smith.

And on May 30, Semaj Reddick-Streater, an 18-year-old senior at ACES Whitney North High School and new father, was killed after shots were fired at the 200 block of Circular Avenue.

Police Chief John Sullivan offered Council members an update at Monday’s meeting about ongoing initiatives and strategies that the department is utilizing to address violence in the town.

“Our Detective Bureau is investigating all these crimes thoroughly,” Sullivan told the Council, referring to the three most recent shootings.

Sullivan noted that the department established a crime deterrence unit in January to address an uptick in crime. He also cited the department’s community bicycle unit and neighborhood initiative unit, which send officers out on foot and bike to converse with residents in their neighborhoods.

In addition, he briefly noted that he is also working with the New Haven police department and the FBI to revive a regional shootings task force, saying that he is currently working out the specifics of that unit with Hamden’s legal team.

Council member Justin Farmer, an active participant in police accountability protests in recent years, asked why he had not been able to contact the Police Department or Commission for the past three weeks or informed directly about the shootings. The chief responded that he had been ​“very busy.”

“Sometimes it does take me a little time to report to some of the Council members about the incidents that have happened,” he said. ​“But in my active year as chief, I’ve been very receptive.”

Farmer called for the Council to hold a special meeting to speak more broadly about the issue. There was no consensus reached about whether or not to do that.

In interviews after the meeting, members offered different takes on the police response.

McGarry said he felt that ​“the chief laid out some very good ideas of how to address the recent uptick in crime,” which has coincided with a nationwide increase in violence nationally since the start of the pandemic. 

It’s ​“important to note that it’s not just Hamden that’s experiencing these sorts of situations with crime. Personally I think a lot of this is pandemic related,” McGarry said. He said that he hopes to see reductions in crime after improvements in ​“the economy and people’s lives.”

McGarry expressed enthusiasm for increases in community policing and wraparound services that are likely to be included in Hamden’s new budget, once it’s approved by the Legislative Council.

“Everything the chief read out loud we’ve already been doing. He packaged it as if it was something different,” said Farmer, explaining why he sees a need for a broader Council discussion.

“It’s important to put this into context; crime is basically where it’s been before. But there’s been a 46 percent increase in the police budget over the last decade, and an 8 percent increase this year. They got even more than they asked for. And the Chief of Police got two raises during his first 11 months of work he got two raises, each for $10 thousand.”

Farmer stressed the predictability of the recent uptick in crime. ​“We should’ve met and had a conversation about the potentiality of heightened crime because we knew it was going to happen. People have been stuck in their houses for a year. We know that people act more irrationally during the summer, that the police department receives more calls during times of high unemployment.

“Everyone’s gonna complain about fireworks in a couple of weeks. Have we talked about fireworks? Are we going to talk about them? No. How is that community policing? Community concerns first need to be supported by the police.”

Brad Macdowall, who has served on the Council for four years and is seeking the Democratic endorsement in Hamden’s mayoral race this year, noted that the crime increase began over a year ago, with rises in vehicle theft in addition to directly violent incidents.

Macdowall said he doesn’t necessarily agree that the primary answer to increased crime lies in policing.

“That’s an ideological difference that I’m gonna have from someone like McGarry,” he said. ​“Until you address things like the housing crisis, food insecurity, the lack of economic opportunities in our community, and unless you holistically address these things, I don’t see things improving. Crime is a symptom — it’s not the illness.”

He seconded Farmer’s call for a special Council meeting on the issue by month’s end. Macdowall added that he would like to see hard data not only from the police concerning the effectiveness of their strategies to hold individuals accountable and both solve and prevent crime, but from community members leading alternative programs to proactively strengthen communities and combat violence. For example, he cited the work of Leonard Jahad, the executive director of Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, who has partnered with the Hamden and New Haven PDs to provide resources to reduce risk factors for violent behavior among youth populations.

“Does Jahad feel like he’s been successful?” Macdowall asked. ​“I think he has, but are there any obstacles preventing him from doing more? Is there a lack of support there?”

Farmer’s primary request is to craft an ordinance that will require Council members to be directly notified when a serious crime occurs in town. ​“If crime happens in my district, I want communication from the police department. I live in the epicenter of where these shootings are going on. I shouldn’t have to scan the district to find out information when there are people who get paid to do it.”

He noted that he had the same conversation with the fire chief. ​“Since then, anytime there’s a fire he calls and tells me. That’s a basic courtesy of community trust and authority.”

Farmer said he is advocating for a second ordinance that would demand a detective be hired after every serious incident, such as murder, rape, or kidnapping. ​“A detective calls us, has a conversation with us,” he added, recalling how he was able to have a conversation with Detective Crawford of Hamden PD after last Sunday’s shooting to discuss the pros and cons of security cameras, panic buttons, and heightened community involvement. 

Farmer also said the names of any person applying to work as a police officer should be publicly accessible. Last week he and others held a protest when the Police Commission took under consideration an application from a former Bridgeport cop who had shot dead a citizen in that city. (Hamden ended up not hiring a cop.)

Farmer pointed out that another reason it has been difficult to make suggestions and have conversations is that the Police Commission and Traffic Commission both went six months without meeting this year. ​“I don’t know what they think public safety is,” he said, ​“but I have a different vision.”