Just in time for Christmas, New Haven police headquarters hosted a group of carolers with a musical message: Fire a cop who’s been accused of beating multiple people.
The group, comprising local anti-police-brutality activists, also delivered an oversized holiday card for the chief, complete with pictures of the battered faces of victims of alleged police abuse. Their delivery took place at midday on Wednesday at the police station on Union Avenue. Click the play arrow above to see the action.
The activists are calling for the termination of Officer Dennis O’Connell. They say he has a history of violently abusing arrestees, including punching, kicking, and pepper-spraying them without cause. The abuse is part of a larger issue: the lack of accountability, training, and oversight by the police department, protesters said.Chief Limon issued only a brief general statement later in the day. (See below.) He avoided the protest. And he didn’t return repeated requests for comment from the Independent about the protest and the issues raised. Nor has he released any follow-up information about incidents from several months ago cited by the protesters—when an assistant chief ordered a man jailed for videotaping officers at work (the man had his video erased too), and when a video caught officers beating a suspect on Crown Street on Sept. 10 and snatching the citizen photographer’s camera. The chief has not indicated whether he has decided whether his assistant chief violated department policy or whether to discipline him. He has not said whether he has looked into which officer or officers were responsible for the Sept. 10 incident or whether he plans to discipline them, or even what stage internal investigations are at. The mayor’s spokeswoman said the chief decided not to make himself available for questions.
via Chief Ducks Carolers — & Brutality Questions | New Haven Independent.
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