Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra asked Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for help Thursday to deal with the uptick in homicides in the capital city.
Segarra’s letter to Malloy comes after Hartford’s 17th homicide of the year. In the letter, Segarra asks Malloy for additional personnel from the state as well help from neighboring towns’ police departments to increase the staff available to the Shooting Task Force.
Segarra asked Malloy to increase the number of state police detectives working with the city by three (from one to four), as well as the number of inspectors working with the city from the Chief State Attorney’s Office by three (also from one to four). Further, he asked Malloy to increase the current part-time probation and parole staff to full-time.
That won’t return the Shooting Task Force back to its 2011 level, but Segarra said “it will increase our ability to be more proactive and effective in addressing the increased number of violent crimes during the first six months of calendar year 2015.”
The mayor also pointed out that the increase in violence in Hartford is a regional issue. He said some of the suspects in recent shootings reside in East Hartford, Bloomfield, and Windsor.
“Crime does not stop at the town lines,” Segarra added.
Outside the Hartford Correctional Center Thursday, Malloy acknowledged the spike in homicides that’s not being repeated in the other communities.
“I want to work with Hartford,” Malloy said. “We’ll make assets available. Any loss of life is too much.”
He said he’s happy to work with Segarra and Hartford Police Chief James Rovello on that.
Asked if Segarra had reached out to his administration for help, Malloy said as of 3 p.m. Thursday there was no “specific request.”
But the request from Segarra, who is in a tough re-election contest, came later Thursday evening in the form of a letter.
Devon Puglia, a spokesman for Malloy, said they received the letter and will be reviewing it.
Segarra, who endorsed Ned Lamont over Malloy in the 2010 Democratic primary, is being challenged by Malloy’s former legal counsel, Luke Bronin.
Asked if he was going to be making an endorsement in the Hartford mayoral contest, Malloy replied “not here.”
“The last place I’m going to endorse somebody is standing in front of a prison,” Malloy said Thursday.