Andy Thibault

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Cool Justice
Leadership & Street Justice In New Britain
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
May 23, 2005

   Textbook civil rights don't just happen. They don't pop out of a toaster. It often takes of confluence of moral actions by both ordinary people and those in power to make sure citizens are protected from the government.

   In Hartford, where there is a long tradition of police brutality without consequence - except, occasionally, promotion -- cops can virtually get away with murder.

   In places like West Hartford and Greenwich, real criminals can have a field day but protesters who try to exercise free speech can be assured of police harassment and arrest.

   In New Milford, a cop can plant his foot on the back of a prone suspect, lie about being in danger, kill the suspect and not spend a day in jail.

   In Stratford, cops can get away with  knowingly putting the wrong guy in jail for four months, costing the town about $1 million in settlement and legal defense costs.

   This is why I was shocked to learn about rank and file cops - and even the chief - standing up for civil rights and against police brutality in New Britain.

   Hear this, from New Britain's acting police chief, William Gagliardi: "The community expects police officers to protect them, not abuse them, even when they are accused of a crime."

   Gagliardi was talking about officer Michael Adams, who has been accused of using a suspect's head for a football and trying to kick a field goal.

   Adams' alleged actions were so blatant that even a fellow officer stepped forward with an eyewitness account. This is quite significant, because many officers go blind or hallucinate during such incidents. They become focused on the emergency brake in their cruiser, clouds in the sky, people down the street or birds in a tree. They see guns that don't exist. A guy breathing on the ground appears to be attempting to flee. Suddenly they are in mortal danger. Funny, I haven't seen many criminal referrals by judges for prosecution of perjury when they hear such statements.

   Instead of taking the lying in your face route, officer Joseph Pearlingi told investigators Adams looked like he "had just kicked a field goal … I saw Adams take a step backward from the male lying on the ground and the officer just kicked the male on the ground in his face."

   Adams, in his curious defense, told investigators he really meant to kick the suspect's elbow.  The suspect's attitude led Adams to fear harm.

   Criminalizing attitude -- a common practice by officers on the street -- is the mark of a totalitarian state. Supervisors, prosecutors and judges who sanction this practice are great candidates to work in gulags around the world.

   Gagliardi, meanwhile, is a proponent of police courtesy.

   "It's not always easy to be at the top of your game when you come into tough situations," he said after a survey that gave the New Britain department high ratings for customer service.

   Gagliardi, former deputy chief, became acting chief after his boss retired a couple months ago. The city began a national search for a successor.

   "You want the best, most qualified person for the position," Mayor Timothy Stewart said upon appointing Gagliardi acting chief.  "That doesn't necessarily have to come from within, but it very well might."

   The current New Britain brutality case might have gone down a different road without Gagliardi's leadership and integrity. What more could a city want?

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