A majority of Bridgeport adults polled in an August survey think addressing the root causes of crime is a more effective approach to reducing crime than increasing the number of police officers. People hold that view with strong intensity across all demographics. And given that crime is down in Bridgeport while our police department is short approx 130 officers, the people may be onto something.

After George Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020, people all across the country began to look at America’s public safety and policing problems with renewed vigor. Following national and local protests demanding reforms, Bridgeport City Council President Aidee Nieves and Councilman Scott Burns convened a working group – Bridgeport’s Task Force on Public Safety – that brought together activists, organizers, elected and city officials, and the police department. The Task Force then began  the hard work of understanding Bridgeport’s unique public safety concerns and how we could address them through concrete public policy. The group, which included Bridgeport Generation Now Votes’ President, Gemeem Davis, understood that if we were going to be serious about improving public safety for all Bridgeport residents the Task Force’s work required a deep analysis of the history of race and racism, the history of policing and mass incarceration as tools for controlling Black and Hispanic bodies, and how those things give rise to both police and community violence. 

It is racism, particularly anti-black racism, that has created the conditions we identify as root causes of crime. Poverty, neglected neighborhoods, subpar public education, housing insecurity, unemployment, untreated mental health conditions and substance abuse issues all make space for violent crime to thrive.

Bridgeport’s Public Safety Task Force Recommendations: What Bridgeporters consistently say they want!

With an eye on addressing these root causes and building trust between the police and the community, the Task Force on Public Safety released several recommendations to Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration that included: investing more money into public schools, commissioning a racial equity study, providing anti-racism training for city officials, creating a mobile crises/social services unit so that individuals who call 911 in need of mental health, addiction or homelessness services can get the help they need without having to interact with the police, investing in violence prevention/interruption programs that work and more community policing. 

Unfortunately, Mayor Joe Ganim has failed to take the recommendations of the Task Force seriously. We know from last week’s blog post that over the eight years of Ganim’s second chance as Mayor, he has systematically divested from public education. We also know that the money city council allocated to hire counselors that would respond to non-violent 911 calls was instead used to hire counselors that are helping other departments and not working with emergency management and the police. City Council President Aidee Nieves in a January CT Post article said, “Yet again the city and this administration decides they’re going to go a different route than what we allocated the funds for.”

To his credit Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter, who was sworn in on December 1, 2022, met informally with Bridgeport community leaders in February and promised to move forward with integrating social workers and mental health professionals into the police department. As for the other recommendations, the city has not moved forward with anti-racism training. They put out a request for proposals for the racial equity study, which companies responded to and members of the Racial Equity Consultant Election Committee (a subcommittee of the Task Force) read and ranked, but the city never followed through and hasn’t communicated with the committee about the status of the study since April 2022. 

The Ganim administration did use a little over $10 million of the $110 million American Rescue Plan money for covid relief to “stimulate workforce development” however only about $450,000 was specifically allocated to go to non-profit organizations working in the Public Safety sector. To date there has been no long-term strategic plan from the Ganim administration to address the root causes of crime. 

Mayor Ganim Misses the mark Takes Cues from racist 90’s policies

Instead, he appears to be taking cues from the racist “criminal justice” policies advanced in the 90s. This legislative session, he along with other mayors introduced a bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to address gun violence that completely misses the mark. In a shocking attempt to gaslight the public into believing his legislation constitutes “common sense gun laws” the mayor’s bill would create a new crime. The serious firearm offense would “subject repeat offenders to a higher threshold for bail and immediately revoke probation or parole.” It would also “allow prosecutors to require certain defendants to post at least 30% of a bond set by a judge — not the 7% often required by bail bond companies” according to an article in the CT Mirror. But it’s not 1993, it’s 2023. These types of punitive measures don’t work. Haven’t we learned enough from policies like Three Strikes and Stop and Frisk? All they do is make it easier to lock up more and more Black and Brown boys. And keep them there. 

If Ganim were serious about advancing common sense gun laws in our state and city perhaps he should start with introducing legislation that targets gun trafficking. Our kids are getting guns from somewhere. And, if he were serious about addressing gun violence in BRIDGEPORT, he would take his cues from the people and address the root causes of crime.

Love Bridgeport? Read The People’s Platform, pledge to vote on Tues., Sept. 12th, and donate to the Year of Change!