New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
New Haven police speak out on brutality
NEW HAVEN — City officers condemmed police brutality with one voice in a video Saturday, coming together after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis.
Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said Friday that the department would be issuing a statement Saturday, expressing his own anger at Floyd’s death and noting it was shared by officers around the country.
“Today, the New Haven Police Department wants to call out every single law enforcement officer around the country to stand with us and stand against police brutality,” said Reyes in the video, shared on the department’s Instagram account. “You will hear the voices of the men and women of the New Haven Police Department, but these are also the voices of law enforcement officers around the country that do their jobs every single day, honoring their oath and their commitment to their cities. So, today we speak for us, and we speak for them.”
A group of officers, standing shoulder to shoulder on the steps of the station on Union Avenue, call out “we stand against police brutality.”
The assembled police then recite their oath of office, seeking, in Reyes’ words, to “renew our vow to the City of New Haven.”
“I solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of a law enforcement officer to the best of my ability and according to law, and that I will at all times try to use the power entrusted to me as such officer for the best interest of the city, so help me God,” the group intones together.
Floyd died on Monday after a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for for more than eight minutes while he was handcuffed face down, saying he couldn’t breathe.
Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Connecticut State Police commented in approval of the NHPD’s stand on Twitter.
“We Stand With You!” Troopers said on Twitter. “Connecticut State Troopers Stand Against Police Brutality!”
The Bridgeport Police Department also agreed with the stance on Twitter, as did Norwalk Police Chief Tom Kulhawik.
“We stand with you United AGAINST Police Brutality! We hear you!” Bridgeport police said.
Keith L. Mello — who serves as the chief of the Milford Police Department, the president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and chairman of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council — also condemmed the incident in a statement Friday, describing it as “beyond disturbing” and saying it “cast a stain over the law enforcement profession.”
Mello said the behavior of the officers involved reflect “failures in police tactics, judgment and training.”
“Of equal concern is the lack of intervention by other officers on the scene,” Mello said. “We are reminded that we are leaders in our communities, especially during a time of crisis. Our oath and our ethics require us to act whenever we are witnessing an unjust act, even by another police officer.”