Reaction to Charges Filed Against Hamden Police Employee Devin Eaton

The State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven today announced that Hamden police employee Devin Eaton was arrested and charged with assault and reckless endangerment charges for shooting and injuring Stephanie Washington in April. The following is a reaction from David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut:

“Regardless of the outcome of this one case, true police accountability still does not exist in Connecticut. Police accountability will not exist until every level of government works to prevent police violence and to hold police employees responsible each time they hurt or kill someone, not just in cases when hundreds of people have taken to the streets in protest.

Justice would have been Devin Eaton never shooting Stephanie Washington in the first place. Justice would have been the City of Hamden’s Board of Police Commissioners following the City’s own law by accepting residents’ complaints about Eaton’s violence. Justice would have been the City of Hamden firing Devin Eaton months ago.

There are still many ways in which justice has not been served in this case, and there are still many ways it can go wrong. The ACLU of Connecticut will be watching this case closely.”

Hamden’s police contract states that the City may place a police employee on unpaid leave if they have been arrested for felony charges, which Devin Eaton has.