The city of Hartford could introduce a diversion program to steer low level drug offenders and people involved in sex work into supportive services instead of jail, according to leading mayoral candidates.
On Tuesday, September 8, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut—with the Law and Government Academy at Hartford High School and the League of Women Voters Greater Hartford—organized a debate among the candidates for mayor of our capital city.
Legendary news anchor Al Terzi moderated the debate, which drew almost 120 people.
Nearly all the candidates backed some criminal justice reforms including a proposal to divert low-level drug activity and sex work to case managers and other supportive services instead of jail. One municipal model can be found in the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion [LEAD] program in Seattle. In that city, people who received services through this initiative were 60 percent less likely to be arrested within the first six months of the evaluation, compared to those who went through the ‘system-as-usual.’
Democrat Luke Bronin said, “I am 100 percent in favor of a program like LEAD [Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion]. It’s based on the fundamental judgement that we cannot punish our way out of a drug problem. We have tried for decades in declaring war on drugs to solve the problem of addiction through jail time. It was misguided then and it’s misguided now.”
Mayor Pedro Segarra (D) also voiced support for diversion programs and said, “We are currently working with our chief and the state to create a program that would divert people who are accused of prostitution, prior to an arrest. In other words, no arrest, but try to connect these individuals with services.”
Republican Ted Cannon, said of the Seattle program, “It truly is a second chance. There are several other cities, Santa Fe being one, that have initiated programs like this. This has been going on in the United Kingdom for years and it is working incredibly well. So my point is, if it is working, then why not pursue it?”
While unaffiliated candidate Joel Cruz did not specifically address diversion programs, he called for better services for people in contact with the criminal justice system. He said, “As a city I would love to see us ban-the-box and expand that to other entities within the city and employers, rather than just have the city of Hartford not asking people if they’ve committed a crime in the past. But go even further than that … What about those who already have a record and expanding services so they can get help.”
The first-of-its-kind forum questioned candidates on key civil liberties issues in the city. Students from the Law and Government Academy at Hartford High School asked the candidates about police acquisition of military equipment, which has occurred with little or no public oversight. Since 2009, state and local police in Connecticut have acquired $12.9 million worth of military equipment, including military vehicles, automatic weapons and even a grenade launcher.
Segarra raised concerns about the militarization of police forces and said that as mayor “any acquisition of military equipment needs to be cleared through me.” He added, “We’ve been over-militarizing our police forces for way too long. We need to bring better community relations as the alternative.”
Bronin argued that most military equipment would be prohibited under a recent ban by President Obama. However, he raised concerns about the issue and said, “For a police department to be legitimate, for it to be respected, for it to have the trust of the community, it cannot feel like an occupying force. It has to be a part of the community. It goes beyond just the equipment to making sure we are getting our officers out of their cars and they are walking a beat and engaging person-to-person, face-to-face.”
On the question of police militarization, Cannon did not oppose acquisition per se but argued for greater transparency. Cannon said, “I don’t think we have a militaristic police department here in the city of Hartford but I do think there should be some citizen control or review board and that inventories should be made known, at least on a semi-annual basis.”
Cruz, said, “I would love for civilian complaint review board to make sure that we are not purchasing grenade launchers because … I don’t think we need that in the city of Hartford. We can put a lot more resources into better equipment for our police department like body cameras and cameras on police cruisers.”
A state proposal that would have required police departments to provide a detailed inventory of stockpiled military equipment failed to pass the legislature this year.
The ACLU of Connecticut thanks the Mark Twain House and Museum for hosting the event, Al Terzi for moderating and the candidates for participating in this forum.
The entire debate can be viewed at CT-N.
