EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — The East Hartford town council hosted the second in a series of town forums tonight, to give residents the opportunity to weigh in on racism and police reform.
Wednesday’s forum took place against the backdrop of a triple shooting at the American Eagle Credit Union earlier this week.
It happened at an out of control illegal party in the credit union’s parking lot around 3 am. When police arrived, they say there was no way to safely put a stop to it.
During the forum, one caller asked why the police didn’t try to put a stop to the party before it got out of hand. Police Chief Scott Sansom said the decision was made to not escalate it to a use of force situation for what was a simple case of trespassing.
Other callers asked about traffic control, and mental health assessment for police officers, but the focus of the forum was racism and police reform.
One caller was impatient with the focus on policing rather than the larger issue of racism.
But Chief Sansom said he's been working toward culture change since he took the helm in East Hartford. He took cops out of schools and provided use of force, de-escalation, and diversity training for his officers.
Sansom said he’s committed to responding to the community's concerns.