Police Commission chair promises ‘civilian assessment’ of protest incident
STAMFORD — The Stamford Police Commission is set to review the Police Department’s internal affairs investigation of an August 8 protest that ended in a physical clash between officers and demonstrators.
Police Chief Tim Shaw on Monday said the department stands behind the investigation’s finding that officers involved used an appropriate amount of force in the incident.
Police Commission Chairman Tim Abbazia said he wants the process moving forward to closely mirror the plan laid out in August, when the commission said in a statement that it would “look at all the information available including video footage and … conduct interviews if necessary.”
“We want to make sure that there’s a civilian assessment of the actions that day. That’s something that’s important to me, that as civilians, we think it’s important for the community to have a civilian oversight of what occurred that day,” Abbazia said.
The late summer protest was organized by local activist group Justice for Steven Barrier, which formed just as demonstrations against police brutality were held across the nation after George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The group rallied around 23-year-old Barrier, a Black man who died in
Stamford police custody on Oct. 23, 2019 following a foot chase with officers.
After a demonstration in front of the city’s police headquarters, protesters and officers clashed in front of the Target store on Broad Street. Afterwards, several people claimed injuries, including protesters, police officers and longtime Stamford activist Jere Eaton, who said she was there trying to keep peace between demonstrators and officers, a claim supported by video of the event.
Abbazia said he expects to release a summary of the IA investigation in the coming days, in order to provide the public specific instances to comment on. The Police Commission also plans to open an email address where community members can send firsthand evidence and accounts of what happened that day.
The commission will also meet with and interview the two commanding officers from the day of the protest — Captain Diedrich Hohn and Lieutenant Michael Noto. Abbazia said the commission will also speak to “any other officers that were involved that become of interest.”
Aside from accepting email submissions from the city, the commission is also working with the city on an outreach campaign to solicit more comment from the community.
“I would expect that we’re
going to reach out to community groups (if) they may not have any idea of what’s going on,” said Abbazia. “We’re going to try that with Building One Community, the NAACP, (or) if there’s a group of people that are still passionate about the Steven Barrier arrest.”
The commission hopes to complete the process in a month, but Abbazia shied away from a definitive timeline in order to accommodate all necessary public comments, he said.
The city’s Office of Legal Affairs is deliberating currently whether it will release the IA investigation or parts of it to the general public.
The department had not yet decided as of Tuesday afternoon, said Corporate Counsel Kathryn Emmett. The investigation remains private because of pending criminal charges against some of the protesters involved with the Aug. 8 protest.
Attorney Philip Russell represents four of the six protesters who were arrested that day. One of his clients faces a felony charge; if convicted, the client could serve up to five years in prison. While Russell is focused on the criminal charges, he said he is watching the results of the Police Commission investigation.
“At this point, we’re simply taking a wait-and-see attitude because there are so many disputed reports from both sides,” said Russell. “There’s a lot of contention as to what actually occurred.”
Russell said he is cognizant of protesters’ claims that police escalated the incident in August, but declined to speak to them until the police commission has concluded its review process.
“My eyes are on criminal cases at this point,” Russell said. “We’ll turn our full attention to it at some future date … it’s a matter of resources and timing.”
Online, those who participated in the demonstration have claimed that police disregarded the civil rights of protesters and used excessive force during the clash. The ACLU of Connecticut has supported that claim.
“The Stamford PD has a history of disrespecting protesters’ rights, and the violence they appeared to use this weekend is unacceptable,” the civil rights organization said in an Aug. 10, 2020 tweet. “Communities deserve better than police escalating and using violence against protesters. And Steven Barrier should still be alive.”
The state medical examiner determined Barrier died of a heart attack. The State’s Attorney’s Office found no evidence that police were responsible for his death. Members of the protest group and Barrier’s family have disputed those findings, and have said at the very least police should have gotten him immediate medical attention following their foot chase, instead of bringing him to police headquarters. He was incapacitated when they caught him and had to carry him to a police cruiser.