Leaders Speak Out Against Crime Politics

Two candidates for Mayor of New Britain and the leader of the State Senate are criticizing the politics of crime.

When runner Henry Gudleski was killed in an alleged hit and run in New Britain’s East Side, there was broad sadness and anger. Democratic Mayoral candidate Veronica T. DeLandro said on July 3rd that, “There are no words to express the untimely and unfortunate loss of someone who meant so much to his community.”

“We are saddened by the tragedy in New Britain,” said the Senate President Pro-Tempore, Sen. Martin Looney (D-11) on July 7th, “and our hearts go out to the family and the community there.”

That the driver of the car was allegedly a teenager who had been previously arrested thirteen times, drew strong reactions, anger and concerns about public safety.

“I was on the east side Thursday,” said DeLandro on July 3rd, “and spoke with a few neighbors about the hit and run and other incidents that happen on East Street. Whether or not the cars are stolen, there have been growing concerns from residents on the lack of safety in their neighborhood.”

But some politicians are being accused of trying push a political agenda after Republican Mayor Erin Stewart was with other Republican politicians at the State Capital on July 7th for a press conference, in which she said she pushed a message that, “New Britain has suffered due to the lack of consequences for juvenile criminals, and stressed the need to overhaul the juvenile justice system because it is broken.” New Britain Police Chief Christopher Chute was with her at the press conference that some are calling political.

Democratic Mayoral candidate Alicia Hernandez Strong, on July 7th, criticized that,

the New Britain Police Chief stood in full uniform alongside Republicans at the state Capitol to support tougher penalties for youth offenders. In an explicitly political turn, he wants the state to allow his force to arrest and incarcerate more New Britain children. This is coming from a department that has failed to hold it’s own violent officers accountable to the citizens of New Britain.

“The people of New Britain deserve better leadership,” Strong added. “We cannot be reactionary and repeat the mistakes we made in the past. We cannot bring in another era of mass incarceration that hurts our families and communities.”

Sen. Looney said on July 7th that, “It is unfortunate that Republicans are using this tragic and painful event to attempt to score political points in an effort to push failed, excessively punitive policies from the 80’s and 90’s.”

“Republicans lost all credibility on public safety,” Sen. Looney added, “when they were silent on the U.S. Capitol insurrection, refused to fund proven urban gun violence prevention programs, and sought to defund or underfund many critical urban aid programs.”

DeLandro said, on July 8th, that she agreed with Sen. Looney’s comments, calling the Republican press conference, “a sad case of politicians ‘politicizing a horrible event to place blame on others.'”

DeLandro added that,

We can all agree that there needs to be changes but at the same time, this is no quick, and easy fix. My question to those that held the press conference, specifically the municipal leader from New Britain, how active were you in pushing for these changes before the unfortunate death of Mr. Gudleski? You can’t scream the need to reform the juvenile justice system when your policies on public safety, on the local level, have not been successful.

Since Richard Nixon’s infamous “Southern Strategy,” Republican politicians have been criticized for pressing the politics of crime and “law and order” as racist code words. Republican former President Ronald Reagan campaigned on the widely derided racist image of the “welfare queen” and Republican former President George H. W. Bush’s use of the image of Willie Horton in his campaign is also criticized as racist. Republican former President Donald Trump, was and is widely criticized for transparent racism.

All nine Republican members of the City Council have proposed a resolution calling for, “significant criminal penalties for juvenile offenders.” That resolution is on the agenda of the July 14th Council meeting.

“Law and order is only an issue for Republicans when they can target the urban youth of our state,” said Sen. Looney on July 7th. “but not when their political base tries to overthrow our democracy and kills a U.S. Capitol police officer.”

“Mayor Stewart has mischaracterized the term ‘restorative justice’ to repackage harmful Republican law-and-order rhetoric,” Strong said on July 3rd. “At its core, she is using fear mongering to convince people that we need to throw children into prison.”

“Yes,” DeLandro had said on July 3rd, “there is a problem when a 17-year old is arrested thirteen times, but this is also a public safety issue. What are we doing in our city to ensure residents safety? I’ve attended several NRZ meetings and the number one complaint from residents are those who speed down the street and drive through stop signs and stop lights. It’s dangerous and leads to not only accidents but even deaths.”

On July 3rd, Strong criticized that what Stewart is pushing, “is not restorative justice, but retributive. Restorative justice would require significant divestment from policing and considerable investment in social services, something the Mayor is unwilling to do. She claims that it’s not in her power to do anything about juvenile justice. That is false.”

“The reality is,” Strong added, “incarcerating people often exacerbates (and often creates) mental/emotional problems and people return to our community more likely to reoffend. We cannot ignore all of the research that has cautioned against incarcerated juveniles, pointing to the negative effects it has on the entire community.”

“It’s time we stop using policing and incarceration as a short-term band-aid,” Strong said on July 7th, “and address the root causes of violent juvenile offenses instead.”

Editor’s note (7/9/2021): The article was updated to include news on the Republican City Council proposal.