Police: Bridgeport man cited in crash on I-95 in Westport POLICE
WESTPORT — Troopers cited a Bridgeport man for allegedly causing a efforts. Earlier this month in a recent state-of-the-department address Porter delivered online, the chief said he was pleased that the overall crime rate, driven by increases in burglaries and felony larcenies like shoplifting, was up just five percent given the force is around 100 officers short.
“We’ve been operating with a 255-man department pretty much this year,” Porter said in an interview Tuesday. He has previously said his goal was a 375-officer department.
But are that many new hires actually needed? That is what the staffing study will determine. The analysis was recommended in a 2020 report issued by consultant Charles Ramsey, the former Philadelphia Police Commissioner and ex-Washington, D.C. chief that Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration hired in 2019 to recommend ways of improving Bridgeport’s department.
However it was only this year that the project was launched with the hiring of the Matrix company out of California.
Tiadora Josef, Ganim’s director of communications, said Tuesday the police force “has been diligently working with the selected vendor to obtain all necessary data, analytics and information for the study.” She did not offer a specific completion date but Porter said he expected it to be early in the new year.
Meanwhile the city is also moving forward with the hiring of an assistant police chief and filling the newly civilianized position of budget/policy analyst. The assistant’s role has been vacant for two years since Ganim promoted Porter’s predecessor, Rebeca Garcia, to acting two-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 in Westport Friday after he changed lanes during a medical emergency, a police report said.
chief and was advertised in late summer.
Josef said 12 individuals applied for the $138,740 to $152,610 job and the selection process “is ongoing but proceeding as anticipated.” Again she provided no specific time frame for when Ganim and Porter will announce a hire.
Proponents of having an assistant, Porter included, have argued that person will provide muchneeded support for the chief given Bridgeport at one time had an assistant and four deputy top cops on the payroll and is now down to just Deputy Chief James Baraja.
As for the $79,000 budget/policy analyst, that job was established in the municipal budget approved last spring and is currently being advertised. In recent years certain officers and/or the assistant chief were tasked with being responsible for department finances and the budget.
“So now we’re going to have a dedicated person who’s not a police officer,” Porter said. “This will give us a more independent perspective of things.”
Asked if there will be overlap between the analyst’s and assistant chief ’s duties, Porter argued there are plenty of “police issues” for the latter to focus on.
City Councilman Scott Burns, a budget committee co-chairman, said this
Jose Hernandez, 66, of Bridgeport, was traveling in the left lane of I-95 north near Exit 18 at about 6:04 p.m. when he suffered a medical emergency
week the ideal will be to hire someone with a background in public safety and finance as the analyst. As for any duplication of an assistant chief’s responsibilities, Burns said, “I think they serve different roles. I don’t have a big issue with that, especially considering the number of deputies we’ve cut over the years.”
Along with ongoing efforts to recruit and train new classes of officers, Porter is hopeful that 2024 will see a boost in manpower thanks to the City Council’s amending municipal rules earlier this year allowing police in other municipalities to transfer to Bridgeport without having to start from scratch.
And he is also hoping to jump-start efforts to replace the department’s aged 60-year-old headquarters at 300 Congress St., something Porter thinks can help as a recruitment tool. The council set aside $2.5 million in 2022 to begin the planning.
“This building is done,” he said. “It’s outdated.”
In 2024 Porter will also be dealing with a new union president. On Nov. 2 incumbent Lt. Brad Seely was ousted after over three years at the helm by Officer Michael Salemme. The vote was 117 to 76.
The union in a statement and veered into a right lane, striking the rear of another vehicle, the report said.
Hernandez and his female passenger and the
this week about Salemme said cited his background as a patrol officer with 16 years experience.
“His goals as union president are to ensure compliance with the collective bargaining agreement, lower the high rates of health care, achieve more competitive pay for officers, and bring back medical benefits for retirees hired after 2016. These efforts will support the retention and recruitment of officers on the force.”
It was thought that some of those issues, in particular healthcare expenses and salaries, were put to bed in June when union members under Seely’s leadership approved a new five-year contract that reduced insurance costs and provided a 14 percent total raise.
Seely on Tuesday said “I really don’t know” why he was voted out of office, but speculated one reason might be his rank. He was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant in 2022.
“Maybe they thought they wanted somebody to best represent them as (rank-and-file) officers,” he said, adding, “I really believe we got a very good contract. This is probably one of the best contracts that we got in my 21 years here.”
Under Seely the union in March, 2021 held a no driver of the car he struck were taken to the hospital to be treated for what appeared to be minor injuries, police said.
Hernandez was issued
confidence vote in Garcia, who retired late last year after Ganim passed her over for top cop despite her being ranked the top finalist. And earlier this month some officers tried unsuccessfully to move ahead with a similar vote on Porter’s leadership, but did not have the support to bring the motion before the full union.
The union declined comment on that failed action, while Porter and Ganim confirmed they were aware of the attempt.
The chief said he believes there are some on the force unhappy with internal changes he has made, such as rotating officers who have been assigned certain neighborhoods for several years to other sections of the city.
“They’re upset about that,” he said. “I get it if you’ve been somewhere and gotten used to it. But sometimes you’ve got to get uncomfortable to be more productive.”
Ganim said that following the unsuccessful no confidence vote he met recently with the chief and Salemme and believes “they’re both listening to each other.”
Porter is the fourth chief to serve under Ganim since he was elected in December, 2015. The mayor inherited Chief Joseph Gaudett from predecessor an infraction for failure to maintain the right lane. State police did not specify what type of medical emergency Hernandez suffered.
Bill Finch and, after attempts to force Gaudett to resign, in early 2016 struck a deal to keep him on as a private consultant for the emergency management system.
Ganim then installed long-time friend and political ally Captain Armado Perez as acting chief, giving him the permanent title in 2018 following a national search. In 2020 Perez was arrested for cheating to become a finalist for chief, and Ganim promoted Garcia from assistant to acting top cop.
“I think he’s doing very well,” the mayor said Tuesday of Porter, highlighting in particular the chief ’s efforts at community outreach.
Porter spent a lot of his recent state-of-the-department address focusing on that topic, from his own efforts to visit schools and houses of worship, to officers’ various charity and fundraising accomplishments.
The chief in that same address emphasized that at the end of the day what is crucial for him is how the public views the department and its efforts.
“Your perception is key to me,” he said. “The crime statistics are just a measure . ... But ultimately how you, the citizens, feel is what’s most important to me.”