Norwich council Dems call Republican news conference misleading
Norwich — City Council Democrats on Thursday criticized a Republican news conference held Tuesday outside City Hall to blast the recently approved police accountability law.
In a one-page critique written by Democratic Council President Pro Tempore Mark Bettencourt, the four council Democrats said the Tuesday event was mischaracterized as “Norwich’s response to police reform.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Bettencourt wrote. “The City Council has not discussed the legislation publicly nor considered a resolution regarding the same. The event was an effort to spread misinformation and made wild claims about how it would negatively impact police officers purely to make political points.”
The statement was signed by Bettencourt on behalf of the Norwich Democratic caucus, Aldermen Joseph DeLucia and Derell Wilson and Alderwoman Ella Myles.
The Tuesday event featured 47th District state Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, and Republican candidates Steve Weir in the 19th state Senate District, Caleb Espinosa in the 139th state House District and Robert Bell in the state 46th House District. All the districts include Norwich.
The Republicans criticized the new law for eliminating qualified immunity, which had prevented civil suits against officers. Norwich Republican Mayor Peter Nystrom said the law “threw my police department under the bus” and potentially could raise legal costs for municipalities.
Dubitsky said the law was rushed to a vote in the overnight hours during the July special session. He argued the rush was not necessary, since legislators already intend to revisit the law in the spring 2021 session.
The law redefines immunity for police under government immunity, in which municipalities provide immunity protection. But if a court finds an officer acted in a “malicious, wanton or willful” manner, the officer will have to reimburse the municipality for legal expenses, the law states.
“Spreading ill-informed assessments about what the legislation does or doesn’t do is a form of fear mongering and pandering that does not improve the situation and causes anxiety to our professionals in law enforcement,” Bettencourt wrote.
Bettencourt said the law “does many good things,” including banning chokeholds, funding body and dashboard cams, training and certifying officers. He said the law does not “strip” qualified immunity, but reforms it to make exceptions for “malicious, wanton or willful” behavior.
“The terrific men and women in blue that do their jobs every day and night on our streets will still be covered by qualified immunity,” Bettencourt wrote. “The fear mongers may want to read the legislation.”
Bettencourt said the majority Democratic City Council caucus supported the state’s effort to reform police departments to restore public trust “damaged by recent events.” But the caucus agreed the new law “is not perfect,” with the legislature to revise it in the next legislative session.
“To be clear, while we support reasonable reform, we also support our fine men and women in the Norwich PD and our Chief Patrick Daley,” Bettencourt wrote. “Our department already had some of the items enacted that are part of this legislation.”
In response to the statement, Nystrom said the council Democrats made the same mistake as the city’s three Democratic state legislators who supported the law, in that they “condemn an entire profession with a broad brush for the horrible actions of a few.”
Nystrom said during the news conference that the Republicans acknowledged the good things in the bill and recognized the Norwich Police Department “as a role model for the entire state to follow.”