[Scan-DC] Transparency a priority for new Meriden city manager

[Alan Henney]

Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut)

September 14, 2016 Wednesday

Transparency a priority for new Meriden city manager

SECTION: LOCAL & STATE; Pg. C01

LENGTH: 781 words

MERIDEN - City Manager Guy Scaife says he is committed to improving transparency within city government and the police department after a rash of violence this summer.

"I hope at the next City Council meeting to do a briefing on what actions have been taken, what we are doing to deal with this very serious and alarming uptick," Scaife said last Friday during a meeting with two Record- Journal editors. A public safety forum has been tentatively scheduled for next week as well.

On Sept. 6, Scaife's first day as city manager, he attended a City Council meeting and heard several residents speak out about violence and the police department's perceived lack of transparency. 

Scaife asked Police Chief Jeffry Cossette to attend Friday's meeting with the Record- Journal to discuss what his department could do to improve communication with the media and community. Cossette agreed to train staff in the department's records division to release police reports when public information officers aren't available. The officers work in the internal affairs unit. Often, they are busy conducting background checks for prospective officers, Cossette said, noting that the department is working to fill several openings.

Cossette also said he would ensure shift commanders release information regarding serious incidents, such as shootings and robberies, when public information officers are not available.

In 2011, the police department's radio frequencies were encrypted as meridenp2c.

com was rolled out. Cossette said opening up the radio frequencies to the public is off the table due to safety concerns. In the past, police scanner phone apps have hindered investigations, he said. Scaife agreed with Cossette's position and questioned why more departments throughout the state don't encrypt their radio frequencies.

Transparency and open communication is of utmost importance, Scaife said, adding that he feels he brings a new perspective to the city.

"It's actually good for a new person to see it through a different set of glasses," he said.

Scaife said there are several initiatives the city is working on to improve safety and prevent violence in the future. A police officer is working with the building department to ensure lease requirements are enforced.

Several individuals "perceived to be major

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players" in the recent wave of violence aren't from Meriden, he said, but have been staying with relatives. This violates Section 8 lease requirements, according to Scaife.

"Either clean it up or they have to leave town," he said, noting that he is also looking to enforce the city's nuisance abatement ordinance. The city's legislative delegation is working to address court set bonds. Police have made several arrests over the summer related to the uptick in violence, only to see the individual released after a judge reduces the bond set by police, Scaife said. A meeting has been scheduled later this month with Connecticut Judicial Branch officials to make sure they understand the ramifications, he said.

Scaife said the city is also taking a closer look at the bail bonds industry.

"We're confident there have been situations where a bondsman has had a relationship with the person giving a bond, and there wasn't the collateral you would have thought there would've been," he said. "The next thing you know they've made bond."

A handful of state and federal agencies are working with the city and aren't just providing financial support. Scaife said the fact that violence in the city is related to gangs and guns "gets a lot of attention from other agencies."

While there is a financial element, such as a $25,000 Department of Justice grant for foot patrols, federal agencies have also shared intelligence with local law enforcement, according to Scaife. "They have the surveillance equipment we don't have in certain scenarios," he said.

"There have been take downs that are joint efforts."

Scaife said the fact that there are several economic development projects in the downtown area is exciting, "but it would be really disappointing to think five years from now it was all for what?"

While some have been critical of the bridge spanning the Meriden Green, he said, "I think it is a bridge to somewhere."

The Meriden Green and Silver City Bridge represent "the idea of the economic success of the core area," he said. "What we have to do is ensure it is a clean, safe, inviting area. I can't tell you how committed I am on that. I will find what it takes resource wise to ensure success. There's no doubt there area going to be some problems, but there ought to be fewer and fewer of them further between."

aragali at record-journal.com 203-317-2224 Twitter: @Andyragz