Republican Mayor Erin Stewart has apparently distributed a campaign fundraising flyer that appears to use New Britain’s official police badge and insignia. The badge and insignia represent the official powers held by police officers.
The campaign image is of former New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell on a flyer in which Stewart invites donors to join the former Chief at a fundraiser for her campaign. The flyer was apparently distributed on social media today.
In the image, Wardwell appears to be wearing his official Police Chief uniform.
In the flyer, Wardwell appears to not only be in uniform, wearing an official badge and insignia, but also appears to be wearing a firearm and police radio, which raises the question of whether the photo was taken while Wardwell was still the active Chief, displaying the official insignia of his office, and whether he was on duty when the photo was taken.
Wardwell is retired as New Britain Police Chief. His LinkedIn profile says that he is a, “Corporate Security Manager at Travelers.”
While he is now retired as Chief, Wardwell still appears to still have a top leadership position in the New Britain Police Department, since he is currently listed as a Stewart appointee on the city Board of Police Commissioners.
In a 2018 commentary, published in the Star Tribune of Minnesota, titled, “Why a police uniform doesn’t belong in a campaign”, retired Deputy Chief Laura Goodman of the Brooklyn Center Police Department of Minnesota said that,
The official police uniform is an important public symbol. It commands respect and represents safety, security and service to the community. Police uniforms also convey authority, power and the ability to control. The mere presence of a uniformed police officer is considered the first step in the use-of-force continuum used by police departments nationwide to guide officers’ actions when confronted with conflict or potential unlawful behavior. The authority of law enforcement, represented by the official uniform, is given by the people who are served — all the people.
Stewart is a candidate for re-election in 2021 election. The city elections are on November 2, 2021.
Editor’s note (5/29/2021): The article originally included Former Deputy Chief Goodman also saying that, “It is for these reasons that the official uniform (both military and police) is prohibited for use to influence or interfere with elections or nominations for office as written in the federal Hatch Act (U.S. Code: Title 5, Chapter 15, § 1502 — Influencing Elections),” but that quote was removed from the article because, on further review of her article discussing the history the Hatch Act, it is unclear if she was referring to police uniforms only when worn by currently serving police officers.
