Thumbs up, thumbs down

Thumbs down to the U.S. Department of Justice not following the law. A federal law was introduced six years ago that requires law enforcement agencies to report to the federal government the death of anyone who dies in their custody. If it had been properly implemented, there would now be a national database to track such incidents. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., described the DOJ’s failure as “pathetic,” a harsh word even for the reliably vocal Blumenthal. Unfortunately, it’s also an appropriate critique. Related data has been documented by some media outlets, but this is a prime example of government dysfunction.

Thumbs down to the number of Connecticut residents seeking unemployment compensation sliding back in the wrong direction in early June following a promising climb that began in the end of April. Nearly 15,300 state residents filed jobless claims on the first week of June, about 1,100 more than the previous week. Since the pandemic started affecting the region in March, about 600,000 Connecticut workers have filed claims, according to the state Department of Labor.

Thumbs up to Gov. Ned Lamont for responding to such labor figures by creating a program through Stamford-based Indeed.com to offer free online training and a virtual job fair. Many jobs will return as businesses slowly reopen, but consumers remain cautious, and some businesses have already shut down as a result of the pandemic. A considerable percentage of the workforce will need to explore new fields, so the CT Back to Work Initiative could create opportunities. If it works, lessons could be learned to assist the labor market in the future.

Thumbs down to data that suggests little progress has been made in several Connecticut municipalities to improve diversity within their police departments. CT Mirror documented such data in 2014 after Michael Brown was killed by police in Ferguson, Mo. Six years later, CT Mirror checked in again, to find examples such as Danbury, where 9 percent of the police department is black, compared with 35 percent of the city’s population. Similarly, Hartford’s percentages are 11.5, and 36, respectively. We’ve applauded recruiting initiatives in some communities in recent years, but a lot more work needs to be done. Recruiters could face more challenges to find candidates wary of a career in a field that is facing heavy criticism across the nation.

Thumbs down to some disquieting data that suggests just how much anxiety is in our communities as a result of the financial consequences of the coronavirus. A survey of landlords conducted by the state found that 5 percent of tenants missed payments in April 2019, compared with 17 percent this April. That figure rose to 22 percent in May. In raw numbers, that means 140,000 people in Connecticut are in peril of eviction. Those are just the people paying the bills, so many more lives are affected as well.

Thumbs up to the announcement Thursday that Amazon is coming to Danbury with a distribution center in the former Scholastic warehouse and creating 300-500 new jobs. Amazon already has centers in North Haven, Wallingford and Windsor and is constructing one in Stratford. The median full-time pay was $36,000 last year, but the existing workforce of about 4,000 in Connecticut — and growing — is a bright spot of employment.