Hartford city council passed a resolution Monday requiring increased accountability and transparency from the city’s police force in an effort to restore court-ordered federal guidelines that expired this year.
The resolution, which had sat in committee for months, was first introduced after a federal judge let the decades-old Cintron v. Vaughn sunset back in April. The original agreement stems from a case that began in 1969, when, according to city officials, Black and Latino residents challenged a “systematic pattern of police discrimination” and sued seven municipal employees.
The lawsuit, known as the Cintron v. Vaughan case, brought a settlement and 1973 consent decree between the plaintiffs and city, which established a “code of police conduct” including a written procedure for internal review of complaints against police, ensuring officers avoid using profane and derogatory terms, and called for more diversity among officers.
The decree was set to expire and extended several times, most recently in October 2022. In 2016 the decree was extended, with the court finding the city in contempt of the decree due to a majority-white police force. However, despite a contempt motion claiming the city was not upholding the decree requirement to promote diversity in recruiting, U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley let the 50-year-old court order end.
The council’s resolution calls for Hartford to “implement its own procedures and policies, that align with the 1973 consent decree, to ensure residents of the city that their police force accurately represents the diversity in our community, alongside ensuring other provisions, as outlined within the consent decree, are being met …”
Council Majority Leader Thomas “TJ” Clarke II, who introduced the resolution with council member Shirley Surgeon, said he included language to mandate the department provide information to both the council and the public. The resolution requires policy reforms and hiring updates be posted on the department’s website.
“Transparency is a big part of this resolution,” Clarke said. “There’s certain things that are near and dear to one’s heart and this is something I think the community has been looking for. I think it’s important for people to know about their police force. What are the demographics of the incoming recruiting class? Or from an overall perspective, what is the composition of the Hartford Police Department? These statistics will now be accessible to everyone.”
In addition, the department now must provide biannual reports to the council with updates on its efforts in meeting diversity efforts. The city’s corporation counsel and Police Chief Jason Thody have 60 days to report to city council members where the department stands in meeting the terms under the now-defunct Cintron agreement.
“The clock started ticking once the resolution was passed,” Clarke said. “Now the resolution has been passed, it’s in the hands of the administration. Right now, the council needs to know where the department stands and how it plans on meeting the terms of the agreement.”
Mayor Luke Bronin, who had hailed the judge’s decision to end the consent decree as a sign of the department’s progress, previously said that work must continue to promote diversity and accountability.
“We will and must remain as committed as ever to building a police force that reflects the diversity of our community; to accountability, appropriate oversight, and an independent process for reviewing allegations of misconduct, as demonstrated by the work we’ve done together to strengthen the Civilian Police Review Board; and to embracing the best practices of a modern law enforcement, as reflected in the Hartford Police Department’s recent accreditation,” Bronin wrote in a letter to the council back in April.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
