Hartford Police Union accuses mayor, police chief of failing to address retention issues

Hartford's Police Union says there is a critical need for more police officers in the city and is accusing Mayor Luke Bronin and Police Chief Jason Thody of failing to address the retention issues within the department.

A letter from the union released on Wednesday says in the past 12 weeks, the department has lost one officer per week with more than 125 officers leaving the department since January of 2020.

Over the next few years, 140 officers are projected to leave the force with retirements scheduled. According to the union, officer retention is below 30 percent.

The union is calling on Bronin and Thody to do more to keep officers from leaving.

The police union said there are roughly 100 police officers patrolling the city every day. On Wednesday, 42 of those officers were on overtime.

Working a double, which is a 16 hour shift, is common for multiple days of the week for police in the city to do to make up for the shortage of officers.

The officers can be ordered to come in on their days off and the union says this is burning people out.

The union says the officers and the people living in Hartford deserve better.

According to the union, the Hartford community is bearing the brunt of the situation with service calls and pleas for assistance going unanswered for prolonged periods of time, which sometimes exceeds eight hours.

“They deserve an officer who will be able to be there, be attentive to their needs, investigate properly, not be pushed off a call because there’s a call holding, or a homicide, or a shooting, or a stabbing in the city. Right now, three-16 hours days in a row. I’m not attentive. I’m cranky, I’m human. That’s just being real," said Hartford Police Union President James Rutkauski.

Rutkauski says the three main factors are money, medical and pension. Right now, he said it's difficult to offer anything competitive with the surrounding towns, places where officers can go and have fewer calls for crashes, homicides and shootings.

When the officers are working long hours, they don't have time to be at home with their families so they don't have that quality of life.

The union said they have been warning the chief and mayor about upcoming retirements as well with 28 officers potentially leaving in 2028. The majority of those people are captains, lieutenants or detectives.

"What happens if they leave early? We have officers leave early. We just had a 15 year lieutenant leave, nine year detective leave. People with seniority, with tons of training that we’ve spent money on are walking out that door and they’re not coming back," he said.

Mayor Bronin said NBC Connecticut a statement saying he met with the union president several times, most recently on Friday. He said they have proposed several ideas, which he doesn't agree would be good for the city.

"We recognize that our officers bear a heavier burden when our numbers are down, and we take seriously any and all proposals to further strengthen the force.  In our meetings, the union president has called for the total elimination of community service officers, which we don't believe would be good either for the community or the department -- though we would consider pulling CSOs back to patrol in certain circumstances.  He has called for the elimination of the traffic division, which is responsible both for managing large-scale events and for traffic safety, at a time when traffic safety is a serious concern for many residents. He has called for the elimination of the unit dedicated to violent crime, which is responsible for taking hundreds of illegal guns off our streets at a time when gun violence needs to be our number one priority," Bronin said in part.

"In my meeting with him just a few days ago, he advocated for the elimination of an entire shift from the staffing schedule, which could have both advantages and disadvantages – but which is hard to take seriously when the union filed a labor grievance challenging a much less significant change to the staffing schedule," Bronin added.

Bronin also said he appreciates the hard work of the police here and said in part:

“The bottom line is that the City of Hartford has dramatically increased pay for our officers, is recruiting and training constantly, and will consider any and all serious, sensible proposals for reducing the burden on our police officers, without compromising the safety or wellbeing of our community," Bronin said.

Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody released a preliminary statement.

“The last few years have posed many challenges for law enforcement, not just in staffing and not just here in Hartford but across the Country. I have worked with the Mayor and others to address these issues in a uniquely aggressive way that would not be possible without our department’s support in Hartford.  From pre-contract raises and one of the best labor contracts I have seen in my tenure to innovative policy and operational changes, we have worked tirelessly to support our officers and ease the burden during this challenging time.  We have evidence these efforts are working.  This year we have recorded the lowest number of officers that have left the department since 2016, less than half that of last year," the statement says.

"We have implemented several policy changes to ease the burden on our most junior officers and reward those from across the entire department, from all divisions and ranks, who volunteer to pick up extra shifts.  This has made the processes more fair and equitable, versus the traditional way where our junior patrol officers were forced to work several extra shifts weekly.  These efforts have been met with grievances by Hartford Police Union leadership, most of which have more seniority and are unwilling to share the burden.  The few recommendations the Union President has made come with high costs to public safety and community relations while providing much less significant relief on staffing, not to mention has been proven unpopular with many of the officers," he added.

"This is a complex issue with no easy fix, but we are working diligently and trying new things. During times like this, it is important to put minor differences aside and work together to be most effective for our officers and our community.  The work our police officers have done under the most challenging circumstances I have witnessed in law enforcement is nothing short of remarkable.  They deserve results and not rhetoric.  As always, I am eager and willing to work with our Union to advance meaningful change,” the statement goes on to say.