As medics tried to save a jogger who New Britain police say was mowed down by a teen driving a stolen car, onlookers at the scene had some strong feelings about what they were witnessing.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e giving him CPR. This is why they shouldn鈥檛 be chasing nobody,鈥� a video of the aftermath shows one bystander saying.
New Britain police were only involved here because a resident whose wallet the teens stole was chasing the kids through residential neighborhoods for over 11 minutes. That driver 鈥� a 52-year old man 鈥� allegedly refused to stop despite the police dispatcher ordering him to do so and the kids throwing the wallet out of the car.
New Britain Police Chief Christopher Chute said he believes the adult driver, like so many other victims of juvenile crime, lost faith in the system.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing in this incident was a manifestation of some frustration where you see a victim seeing a crime being committed against them, and they know that not much is going to happen 鈥� so they鈥檙e taking it into their own hands,鈥� he said during an interview.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 have a society where there鈥檚 retaliation and going after anybody who commits a crime. That鈥檚 the police job. Let us handle it.鈥�
This case 鈥� and a pandemic bump in car thefts 鈥� has thrust 黑料新闻鈥檚 juvenile justice system into the spotlight.
Republican lawmakers want to put ankle-monitoring devices on more young offenders and relax state laws so police can pursue children in stolen cars more often.
鈥淭hey need to be able to address high-speed chases, if that is the decision by the officers engaged, and they can do it safely. That鈥檚 their decision, not ours,鈥� said state Sen. John Kissel, a Republican from Enfield and the longtime minority leader of the legislature鈥檚 Judiciary Committee. 鈥滲ut I feel and my caucus feels that right now, we鈥檝e cast a bucket of cold water on law enforcement.鈥�
Democrats, however, say the easy solution is for people to start locking their cars.
Many see larger societal issues contributing to kids getting into trouble 鈥� and more state funding is needed to help.
鈥淚t's not about car thefts in the suburbs at all,鈥� Claudine Fox from ACLU 黑料新闻 said during a news conference outside the state Capitol over the summer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a discussion about how two communities separated by a few miles have vastly different living standards, and primarily people of color are stuck with the short end of the stick on either side. Do we value cars? Or do we value kids?鈥�
鈥淭he investment that makes our community healthy and strong can literally prevent crime,鈥� she said. 鈥淎re you here to invest in communities and people? Or do you believe in punishment and harm?鈥�
In New Britain, one of the poorest cities in America, the car in the fatality was allegedly stolen after the keys were left inside. The teen who was allegedly driving had an ankle-monitoring bracelet, and the police chief said his officers would not have engaged in a high-speed chase with the teen over a stolen car.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to pursue any vehicle that is only a suspect of a property crime; it鈥檚 just not going to happen,鈥� Chute said. 鈥淭he only time we鈥檙e going to pursue a car is if they were engaged in a violent crime where they have imminent threat to somebody else.鈥�
So would the jogger still be alive if not for the adult driver allegedly chasing the kids?
鈥淵es, 110% yes,鈥� New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said. 鈥淚 think that those kids realized very quickly that they were being followed, and were trying to get away from him and put the foot on the gas pedal and were focused on trying to get away from the guy and not paying attention to what was in front of them.鈥�
That driver has been charged with reckless driving and endangerment, both misdemeanors.
Recognizing the threat high-speed chases pose, state policies in December 2019 to restrict when local police can chase someone.
In Danbury earlier this year, the new policy was in place when police began chasing someone they say tried to rob a drug store. Under the new policy, pursuits are allowed when public safety is imminently at risk.
鈥淒o yourself a favor to pull over. Pull over,鈥� the officer said in dashboard camera video recording, which was obtained by 黑料新闻.
The video illustrates how quickly suspects fleeing police can jeopardize public safety, as the vehicle is seen speeding and crossing into the other lane.
Talking to her commander, the officer asks, 鈥淚鈥檓 still following, what do you want me to do? He鈥檚 going into oncoming traffic, oncoming traffic.鈥�
She鈥檚 then told, 鈥淒isengage. Disengage. Be advised. Disengage.鈥�
Some blame the state changing who police can pursue for more car thieves getting away and getting the help they need from the courts. State arrest that while car thefts increased, the number of people arrested stayed the same.
State lawmakers the in response to police shootings of motorists in New Haven .
recently completed by Sacred Heart University found that officers in Windsor and Wethersfield had the highest police pursuit rate in the state the year before the law changed.
One out of every 6 pursuits reported resulted in a crash, and 1 out of every 17 resulted in an injury.
Newtown Police Chief Jim Viadero was the chairman of the state panel that created the new pursuit policy. He and others expect the number of dangerous police chases to drop.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not seeing pursuits for motor vehicle violations. You鈥檙e not seeing pursuits for stolen cars. You鈥檙e gonna see an impact on the amount of pursuits,鈥� he said during an interview.
Ninety percent of the police chases would not have been allowed under the new pursuit standards, according to a Sacred Heart master鈥檚 by a student who had access to state police forms. 黑料新闻鈥檚 requests to the Lamont administration since early July for access to the police pursuit forms have gone unanswered.
While many stolen vehicles are a growing number of people say the best way to keep your car safe is to lock it, and don鈥檛 leave it running while it warms up.
Some suburban police departments in 黑料新闻 have posted yard signs throughout town telling people to lock their cars.
Several states have launched public campaigns around the issue. In New Jersey, state highway electronic billboards read 鈥淟ock it or lose it.鈥� A local news reads: 鈥淣ew Jersey authorities are practically begging for you to lock your car.鈥�
黑料新闻 has no such campaign.
Mike Lawlor was Gov. Dan Malloy鈥檚 criminal justice adviser, and before that he spent decades as the chairman of the committee at the state Capitol that oversaw criminal justice.
鈥淎ssuming your goal is reducing the number of auto thefts, the one thing that will work that is not complicated, that is actually free and will be very effective is if starting tomorrow everyone in the state lock their car and took their keys with them. This problem would disappear overnight,鈥� he said.
Maryland has formed a vehicle theft prevention council, which funds grants for things like public awareness campaigns.
鈥淰ehicle theft in Maryland is down. It鈥檚 had significant impact. We have 20 grantees where funding goes to,鈥� said Executive Director Christopher T. McDonold.
Some think 黑料新闻 should go one step further and impose financial penalties for those who leave their car running unattended. At least nine states levy such fines, a review by 黑料新闻 found.
鈥淢aybe if the law created liability for people whose cars are stolen, because they left their keys in their car, or if insurance regulations reflected that, as something that changes the cost of insurance,鈥� said Hartford City Councilman Josh Michtom, who is also a public defender.
鈥淚 am assuming that there are simple ways to change that behavior through financial incentives.鈥�
But Chute, New Britain's police chief, thinks that鈥檚, 鈥渧ictim blaming.鈥�
鈥淭hat actually hurts to hear,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ow. Oh, my gosh. That鈥檚 really tough to hear.鈥�
About 1,000 cars are stolen with keys each year in 黑料新闻, data from the National Crime Insurance Bureau show. That number has remained steady over the last three years. It鈥檚 unclear what share of thefts that accounts for here, but are stolen with keys.
Insurance companies are not yet ready to call for a shift in liability to help with this.
鈥淚 think more data will help us get a better understanding of the trend and what is happening, why it鈥檚 occurring. And I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e there yet to make a determination,鈥� said Eric George, president of the Insurance Association of 黑料新闻, which represents auto insurance companies.
Part of that data collection is placing bait cars to track where they go.
State Republicans want to also track more children who keep breaking the law and aren鈥檛 locked up around the clock. State data show that roughly 375 children have ankle-monitoring bracelets throughout the year. Those devices, however, are only able to track if a child is home when they should be. The Republicans want to deploy GPS monitoring instead. Such tracking would be costly. The current devices cost $2.66 per day for each client and $4.54 if their home needs a telephone line, compared to $6.70 a day for GPS. This does not include the cost of having 24/7 monitoring.
While state lawmakers grapple with the best path forward, show that motor vehicle thefts are beginning to subside.
Read the rest of the "Juveniles, Joyrides, & Justice" series:
- Part 1: How the pandemic affected 黑料新闻's juvenile justice system
- Part 2: How politics has shifted the narrative
- Part 3: What to do with repeat juvenile offenders?
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