New Haven Against Police Brutality
Flyer distributed by pro-chief, anti-O’Connell rally organizers.
Activists are planning a protest Thursday in response to the news that the police department’s internal affairs division has cleared Officer Dennis O’Connell of wrongdoing stemming from a 2008 complaint that he brutally punched, kicked, and Maced a man without cause, landing him in the hospital.
It’s one of nine times that IA has investigated brutality allegations against Officer O’Connell. All completed investigations except for one have led to full exoneration. A new case involving a Colombian refugee who claimed O’Connell choked and tased him while handcuffed remains open and under investigation.
The complainant in the completed 2008 case was Abel Sanchez, a Guatemalan immigrant who claims O’Connell shoved him to the ground, punched and kicked him in the ribs and face, handcuffed him, and then pepper-sprayed him on Jan. 6 2008, while Sanchez’s brother-in-law was getting a traffic ticket.
NHPD
Officer O’Connell.
After Sanchez complained of abuse at the hands of Officer O’Connell, internal affairs department initiated an investigation, and Sanchez filed a federal lawsuit.
When, after two years, Sanchez didn’t hear anything about the result of the IA investigation, he went to the police station on Jan. 6 2010 to inquire. Two weeks later, the department sent him a letter. He said he he received it Tuesday.
The letter, from IA chief Capt. Denise Blanchard, states that the investigation concluded over a year ago, in October 2009. As in previous investigations, O’Connell was found to have committed no wrong. Read the letter here.
“The investigation concluded there was no evidence to support the allegation of verbal abuse,” the letter states. “Regarding the allegation of Excessive Force, the officers were exonerated since their actions were found to be lawful, justified, and proper. No violations of Department Policy or Procedures were noted.”
In response to that outcome, and to highlight what they claim is an ongoing problem of police brutality, activists are planning a rally at police headquarters on Thursday afternoon. The protest coincides with day-long police union voting to determine whether to send Chief Frank Limon a message of no-confidence.
The rally, organized by New Haven Against Police Brutality, is designed to send messages of “No Confidence in Violent Police” and “No Confidence in Police Using AR-15 rifles.” That’s a reference to rank and file grumbling about the chief’s delay in distributing new rifles to cops, which is one reason for Thursday’s vote.
Melinda Tuhus File Photo
Megan Fountain (at right) with Alvaro Garzon, who has another complaint pending Officer O’Connell.
“New Haven Against Police Brutality is not taking sides in this internal fight,” said Megan Fountain, an organizer. The rally is to call attention to Sanchez’s case and to “send a message that we’re taking a stand.”
It’s not surprising that IA cleared O’Connell of wrongdoing, Fountain argued; that’s happened many times in the past.
But for Sanchez to receive nothing more than a cursory letter two years after the incident and months after the investigation was completed is “sickening,” Fountain said. “It just seems like a complete injustice.”
Contributed photo
Abel Sanchez in the hospital in 2008.
“This letter is a horrible injustice,” said Sanchez in a press release. “I have waited more than two years to hear from them, and I get this hollow response. We need real changes in the police department.”
Fountain said O’Connell should be fired. “I can’t see why he should continue to work for the police department” after nine brutality investigations, she said. “There’s got to be some kind of consequences.”
“We’re certainly always concerned about any allegations of abuse,” said Rick Epstein, head of the Board of Police Commissioners. He declined to comment further.
Capt. Blanchard could not be reached for comment.