Protesters left the streets of Hamden on Monday and marched into Mayor Curt Balzano Leng’s, office demanding that Hamden’s police commission conduct an independent investigation of a police-involved shooting that happened two weeks prior.
Demonstrators are still requesting that Devin Eaton, the Hamden Police Department officer involved in the shooting of an unarmed couple, be fired immediately.
Mayor Leng said that he does not have the power to fire Eaton although he agrees with what the protestors are requesting.
“I have seen enough to say that I don’t think that Officer Eaton should be a Hamden police officer any longer,” Leng said.
Although Hamden PD cannot head the criminal investigation, the department’s ethics and integrity unit will also conduct its own local investigation, according to Mayor Leng.
The two officers involved are on paid leave while the investigation remains underway.
Kiesha Greene, the mother of the unarmed driver involved in the shooting, Paul Witherspoon III, addressed the media Monday and said she agrees that the officers should be fired.
Greene said that she believes the shooting does not only concern her son and Stephanie Washington, the woman who was shot, but that it’s about the community and its entirety.
“Next week it could be somebody else’s child, and I don’t want to see this happen to anyone’s kid,” Greene said.
She voiced her disappointment in not being contacted by the ministers who held the prayer service Sunday in New Haven at the Varick Memorial Church in wake of the shooting.
“How do you have that type of meeting and not have the victims there or the victim’s parents there, because aren’t you talking about the situation that happened,” she said. “Wouldn’t you want to be able to speak to us and have our voices be heard?”
The service was called Hope for Healing and community leaders joined law enforcement officials to focus on finding healing and helping to build trust between the community and law enforcement.
Jacob Schmidt, a 22-year-old Yale student from Richmond, Michigan, decided to go to the service after participating in two of the protests that happened near his school.
“It was so powerful to see everyone come together, leave their apprehensions at the door and commit to a peaceful service,” Schmidt said. “I think this is something that the community should continue to aspire to.”
Pastor of the service, Kelcy G.I Steele, said he believes religious leaders must play a part in improving the community’s policing.
“We are committed to building bridges between police and community and we understand that policing in America is facing a crisis of legitimacy and purpose,” Steele said, according to WFSB.
Connecticut State Police have yet to come to a conclusion on the investigation. During a press conference last Tuesday, the latest information on the investigation and Officer Eaton’s body cam footage from the incident were released.
The state’s public safety commissioner, James Rovella, conducted the press conference. He noted that the release of the footage marked a difference in operation procedures.
“Before we used to not show any of this until the conclusion of the investigation,” Rovella said.
Rovella said that state police do not have footage from the Yale officer Terrence Pollock because his body cam was not turned on during the time of the incident.
“In a perfect world, he would have turned on his camera sooner, but the officer was facing many stressors at the time,” he said.
Rovella revealed that the communication between Hamden PD and New Haven during the night of the shooting may have contributed to how the incident played out.
“Hamden tells New Haven that, in fact, they’ve had an armed robbery involving a firearm. They did not tell New Haven that Hamden was actually entering their city,” Rovella said.
He stated that the officers involved will not be charged until the investigation is completed. Information from officers about what was going on in their heads during the shooting is still lacking because the officers have been on leave, according to the commissioner.
“I have concerns about many different aspects of how this case was handled.”
“I’ve lived here since I was in the third grade. My mom was in the food business; she had a sushi restaurant in Texas. She also owned a couple nail salons and she wanted to open up a restaurant [the OZ Korean Kitchen]. It’s pretty steady. It used to be better but it’s kind of slowing down I’d say. I used to hang out at the plaza in middle school with all of my friends. I was in seventh or eighth grade just walking around the plaza, walking the trail. There are new businesses opening up everywhere. Everything is changing, definitely.”
Dunbar Hill Elementary School is one of eight Hamden schools that is considering implementing the employment of security resource officers.
In just a few weeks the Hamden Legislative Council will vote on a school budget that may include money to place armed school resource officers (SROs) in Hamden’s eight elementary schools.
However, that proposal is stirring controversy in Hamden where its opponents, mainly parents, argue that the presence of armed officers is unnecessary, and will have an overwhelming negative effect on the young students.
“It’s not a good idea to make the age younger and younger when kids are interacting with the police when it’s not needed,” Hamden elementary school parent Jennifer Pope said.
SROs have been fixtures in Hamden’s middle and high schools for years, and their presence as an additional safety measure has been widely accepted by parents, teachers and students alike. The success of these programs have led many community leaders, including Mayor Curt Leng to supporting expanding them to Hamden’s elementary schools. Pending approval from the legislative council, Mayor Leng’s proposal would bring in two Hamden police officers as SROs, who would serve in each school on a rotating basis.
Pope, founder of the Hamden Progressive Action Network (HamPAN), is an outspoken critic of the mayor’s motion. She began HamPAN after the results of the 2016 presidential election inspired her to take on a more active role in politics. During the past three years, HamPAN has focused primarily on issues at the municipal and state levels. Now, its turned its attention to keeping SROs out of elementary schools.
In March, HamPAN created a petition to halt Mayor Leng’s proposal. Citing a report from Connecticut Voices for Children, Pope voiced concern about the effect SROs have on minority students, namely students of color and those with disabilities. The results of the study, which analyzed the effect of SROs on 1000 students across the state in grades K-12, were published earlier this month.
“There are some troubling things in that report…minorities have more contact with the SROs than their white counterparts,” Pope said. “Overwhelmingly the research shows that having SROs in schools doesn’t make them safer.”
Numerous leaders in the school district would disagree. Daniel Levy has been the principal of West Woods Elementary School for the last five years. He argues that, in his experience, SROs serve a crucial role in the school district.
“I worked very closely, for a long time, with Hamden SROs, and really the SRO program is the physical manifestation of the close partnership between the police department and the school system,” Levy said. “What we had always done by working together was promote a safe and welcoming school climate conducive to learning.”
Prior to working West Woods, Levy served as the principal of Hamden Middle School for several years. During that time, he said he witnessed firsthand the positive impact that SROs had on students.
“SROs repeatedly built trusting relationships with students. I had one SRO [at Hamden Middle School], Officer [Andrea] Vay…she used to play violin in our school orchestra with the kids,” Levy said. “Having strong relationships with adults who care for them, who can assist them, is so important.”
Jody Goeler, superintendent for the Hamden school district, echoes Levy’s sentiment, adding that the presence of SROs facilitates a safe learning environment.
“Because there’s so many of them and so few of us, it’s very important that if our students see something or are involved with something that presents a safety concern to them that they have immediate access to and a trusting relationship with a police officer so they can get the help they need,” Goeler said. “They work effectively with our security guards as well, and they also work effectively with our administration.”
Goeler went on to say that should a crisis occur, having officers in the school would be hugely beneficial in minimizing the threat and protecting students.
“[SROs] are effective on a variety of levels. If there are issues relating to say a bomb scare or other kind of safety concern, we have people in those schools who are immediately accessible to help us address those concerns and maintain the safety of our students,” Goeler said.
Not only would these officers be a familiar face to students during an emergency, but Principal Levy also pointed out that having SROs cycle through schools would give them a chance to get familiar with the physical layout of the buildings, allowing them to act more quickly in a crisis.
“God forbid if they needed to respond to a school, they’d be familiar with the layout,” Levy said. “We don’t want to be experiencing a response for the first time in an actual emergency.”
As superintendent, Goeler also created a budget proposal for the upcoming school year, and it does not include funds for bringing officers into Hamden’s elementary schools. Despite understanding the benefits, he believes there are better ways to use the money to meet the needs of the community. Of the issues students in Hamden are facing, Goeler believes that a lack of mental health resources is the most pressing. His proposal features funds set aside for the purpose of bringing mental health professionals into the schools.
Goeler explained that, in an ideal scenario, there would be enough money in the town’s budget to finance both an SRO program at the elementary school level in addition to mental health resources. Given the limited budget however, Goeler stands behind his proposal to use the funds to promote the mental health of students.
“If I had my druthers and money wasn’t an issue, I wouldn’t be opposed to having SROs in all of our buildings because I’ve seen that work in other districts,” Goeler said. “In an environment where we have only a finite amount of dollars, I want to put them towards the kind of support that our students need to access their education. Right now, those needs center around mental health support.”
With hometown roots grounded in Hamden, Jen Hudak has gone on to become an American freestyle skier. She is a two-time world champion and has secured five X-Games medals, four national titles and was an ESPY nominee. After several injuries, Hudak retired from her career as a professional skier and now serves as a life coach to help retired athletes in transition. In 2018, Hudak appeared on the 30th season of The Amazing Race with teammate Kristi Leskinen, finishing third. The two became the first team to place in the top three for all 12 legs of the competition and hold the record for the highest average score of any female team in all 30 completed seasons.
A photographer. An eclectic group of artists. An organization composed almost entirely of volunteers. All different, but with a common goal: to educate Connecticut residents about the Quinnipiac River, the threats it faces and how it can be used for good.
David James, president of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association (QRWA), believes it is now more important than ever to get local communities involved with the Quinnipiac River.
“We really think that it’s important for people to have a hands-on relationship with their physical environment,” he said. “In a highly technological age like we have, it’s all the more important to get people relating to their world.”
The Quinnipiac is a river with a long history of pollution. The battle against corporations and industries that have polluted it has seen progress and setbacks. But regardless, locals are coming together through art, education, and activism to inform the public about the importance of their local river.
The Quinnipiac River has been an integral part of Connecticut history for 20,000 years. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, it begins in New Britain and travels 38 miles south, ending in the New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound. It travels through 14 towns, including Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford and New Haven.
The Quinnipiac River, which begins in New Britain and ends in New Haven, is 38 miles long and travels through 14 municipalities.
As industrialization spread throughout the country in the mid-1800s, industries and businesses populated the banks of the Quinnipiac River because of advancements in hydro powered manufacturing. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, “on the upper river, Meriden and Wallingford became (world-renowned) producers of (silver-plating) and (metalware), and their populations rapidly expanded.” As these populations increased, more industrial discharge and sewage were dumped into the river, causing the Quinnipiac to become severely polluted over the years.
In 1972, what had been previously known as the Water Pollution Control Act was amended and renamed the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under the amendment, the EPA gained the right “to implement pollution control programs” and “made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions.” Under this new legislation, industries and companies were limited to the amount of pollutants they could release into bodies of water. Following the adoption of this amendment, rivers across the country, including the Quinnipiac, began to see improvements in water quality.
Even with the CWA, the Quinnipiac still sees its fair share of problems. There are two categories of pollution that affect it today: point source and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution was the target of the CWA. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, “point source pollution can be traced directly back to a specific origin. Typical sources are the discharge pipes from factories and municipal sewage treatment facilities.” Although the CWA allows specific amounts of these chemicals to be released into the river, companies still manage to find loopholes.
The banks of the Quinnipiac River were a popular location for industries and businesses in the mid-1800s because of advancements in hydro powered manufacturing. As these businesses flocked to Connecticut, increased amounts of discharge were dumped into the river.
Matthew Higbee, research and communications officer for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, explained that in order to identify a chemical that pollutes the Quinnipiac, scientists have to specifically test for that chemical.
“The problem now is the chemical industry can come up with a new chemical and we don’t even know to test for it,” Higbee said.
Without knowledge of these new chemicals, it becomes incredibly difficult to identify them as pollutants in the river. In situations like this, point-source pollutants can be dangerous and unpredictable.
Nonpoint source pollution, on the other hand, usually takes the form of runoff. These pollutants and substances are carried by water across fields, lawns, parking lots and roads. Nonpoint source pollutants can include fertilizers, pesticides, road salt, animal droppings, litter, car fluids and dissolved metals. According to Higbee, these pollutants are the current major threat to the Quinnipiac due to the close proximity of the Merritt Parkway, numerous housing developments and the plentiful lawns and fields of Connecticut.
Quinnipiac Associate Professor of Biology Courtney McGinnis has been conducting research on the Quinnipiac River since 2015. While she acknowledges that industries do release chemicals into the river in the form of point-source pollution, her concerns focus more on nonpoint source pollution.
“(We need to) reduce nonpoint pollution sources,” McGinnis said. “While there are discharge permits to dump industrial waste into the river, we also need to improve the barriers to divert nonpoint pollution sources, like runoff.”
Because the exact source of nonpoint source pollution is usually unknown, it is nearly impossible to regulate. Therefore, nonpoint source pollution is one of the largest threats facing the Quinnipiac today.
Nonpoint source pollution can take the form of runoff. With the Merritt Parkway’s close proximity to the Quinnipiac, pollutants from the road can often be carried straight to the river.
These two forms of pollution have degraded water quality in the Quinnipiac and citizens are starting to see consequences. Although for years the pollution problem has seemed hopeless, locals are fighting back.
One of the most active and successful local organizations in the fight against pollution is QRWA. It has one clear goal in mind: to advance the conservation of the Quinnipiac River and its watershed. The group, which was created by a concerned group of citizens from Meriden, Southington and Wallingford, was officially registered as a non-profit organization by the state of Connecticut in 1979.
QRWA is made up almost entirely of volunteers. Although it does collaborate occasionally with scientists and politicians, according to James, the organization relies on volunteers.
“It’s a good thing, because part of our mission actually is to try and connect residents of this area with the resource which is the Quinnipiac River,” he said. “So it actually provides a vehicle for us to get people involved with the resource.”
The organization has three major programs through which it promotes improvement of the river. Twice a year, it holds an event called Source to Sound Cleanup. This cleanup can vary in size from year to year and depends on the amount of time that has gone into organization and the volunteer base. Some years, it includes as few as two municipalities and some years it may include as many as nine. The cleanup focuses on the towns of Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford and occasionally North Haven.
QRWA’s environmental education programs are a way for younger generations to become familiar with the Quinnipiac River. QRWA works with local high schools and middle schools from Meriden, Wallingford and New Haven to categorize small aquatic life based on the species’ tolerance or intolerance of degraded water quality. At the QRWA headquarters in Meriden, students are able to use the organization’s classroom and science equipment to analyze the water samples.
Riffle Bio Assessment by Volunteers (RBV) is a QRWA program implemented by the state. In the RBV program, a small group of volunteers catalog macro and micro invertebrates in rivers across the state in order to judge water quality. However, two years ago, due to a lack of funds, the state stopped testing polluted bodies of water, like the Quinnipiac.
“Our hope is that they begin to save that data again because the Clean Water Act that was passed in the ‘70s and the state mandate that comes from that says that we’re supposed to be collecting data from all water bodies, not just from clean water bodies,” James said. “So we’re hoping that we can correct that and get that data flowing again.”
With more knowledge about the Quinnipiac’s water quality, organizations like QRWA are able to strengthen efforts to improve the river. And that improvement is critical if the Quinnipiac River is to be a usable resource for local residents in more urbanized areas of central Connecticut. James and QRWA understand how important the Quinnipiac can be for local communities.
“A lot of times people who live in urban areas have less ability to access cleaner areas and more rustic areas,” he said. “Just because they’re in an urban area doesn’t make them any less needful of natural resources or less deserving of having access to natural resources.”
Access to natural resources goes beyond a clean river. It extends as well to clean recreational areas surrounding the river. Another local group has attempted to tackle this problem in an entirely different way.
Pick-Up Artists is a group of artists who come together to rid local parks and recreational areas of trash and garbage. After cleaning up the garbage, the group settles down and creates art inspired by the environment. In October of 2018, the group gathered at Quinnipiac River Park in New Haven to tackle the litter that covered the area.
The organization is small, as it was formed in the fall of 2018, and was founded by environmental and political artist Zoe Matthiessen. Matthiessen vividly remembers the moment that drove her to action.
“I had been on a (bike) ride and I was sketching and on my ride home, right in front of me, like literally 2 or 3 feet in front of me, a seagull was hit by a car as it was picking through trash on the street,” she said. “I cried all the way home and I was like, ‘that’s it, I have to try to do something.’”
Matthiessen immediately began creating fliers and distributing them around New Haven. Shortly after her initial efforts, the New Haven Parks and Recreation Department began to help Matthiessen organize her idea and gather supplies.
The first two events, held at Edgewood Park and Quinnipiac River Park, were attended by 10-12 people. Matthiessen felt that the second event stood out over the first.
“I think the second cleanup was even more of a success, we got every little bit of trash out of there, I think we got about 12 bags full of trash,” she said.
Following pickups, members create art of varying subjects, from tree stumps to ducks, tugboats to lamp posts. However, Matthiessen hopes the cleanup events will help Pick-Up Artist members become more aware of how they are using plastic and garbage.
“You think about where the garbage is coming from and the short shelf life it has and how unimportant the function of it was, and it’s very frustrating because the lifespan of the garbage is quite long and the function that it serves is just so brief,” she said. “So I think that it makes you more aware of what you’re doing on a day-to-day.”
Matthiessen plans to schedule more events for the upcoming spring season. She stresses that the events are open to everyone, not just artists. And the end result is worth it.
“It is really satisfying to walk away from a place, seeing all the bags of trash lined up, thinking about how you’re leaving it compared with how it was when you first arrived,” Matthiessen said.
But Matthiessen has not been the only local trying to use art as a form of activism. New Haven photographer Ian Christmann uses photos as a way to illustrate how pollution has affected the Quinnipiac River. He received a grant to photograph the river over the course of two years, highlighting the beauty and abuses.
Although Christmann’s initial goal was to show towns along the river what the conditions looked like upstream and downstream from their corridors, he also made some unsettling discoveries. According to Christmann, he learned that in the ‘80s, the river was the second most carcinogenic river in the country and that to this day, companies continue to dump waste directly into the water. However, one discovery hit a little too close to home.
“One of the most upsetting sights I saw was the size of the discharge pipe pouring into the river behind Cytec Chemicals (now Allnex) in Wallingford, knowing that the water was flowing down into my neighborhood after that point,” he said.
After two years of shooting and exploring every inch of the Quinnipiac River and its watershed, Christmann was able to narrow his final project down to 150 photos that truly highlighted the various conditions of the river.
The final exhibit was displayed in the city hall or library of each town in the Quinnipiac River Watershed. After remaining in each of those locations for a month, the exhibit was moved to the state capital building for one last display. After the completion of the exhibit, the photos were donated to QRWA for educational and advocacy use.
Overall, Christmann was happy that he could fight the battle against pollution in a way he knew so well.
“It was great using my abilities as a photographer to highlight and engage people around the conditions of the Quinnipiac River, in order to amplify the beauty and abuses along the river,” he said.
As the Quinnipiac’s water quality improves, it has the potential to become a beautiful resource for recreational activities.
Overall, it’s important to remember why clean rivers benefit local communities. The Quinnipiac River has been a pivotal resource throughout Connecticut’s history. It can be a home to aquatic life, a resource for recreation, and subject of art. But as James claims, communities should rely on the Quinnipiac for their prosperity.
“I think we have a deep held belief that human health is tied directly to environmental health,” he said. “It’s not really possible to have a healthy community without healthy resources.”
