The Albany Ave Substation

The Hartford Courant's Jenna Carlesso wrote an an interesting article about the opening of a new police substation in downtown while the substation on Albany Ave remains closed. It is interesting to note that while the North End clearly needs the extra police presence more than downtown, it is also important that workers and business owners feel safe while coming into town for the few remaining jobs downtown.

We've visited the closed substation on Albany. It's a place to see oddly positioned security cameras, redundant signs, a basketball court wrapped in a yellow fence, and some locals hanging out and shooting the breeze.

Police Academy VIII?

David Drury of the Hartford Courant is reporting that Wethersfield, our neighboring town where most Italians in the South End have fled to over the last two decades, is hosting a ten week Citizen's Police Academy for those interested in getting a look at police work. The program will be free of charge for those that live or work in Wethersfield. While not Hartford news, we can't help but think back to the zany Police Academy movies from the 1980's and hold out hope that Wethersfield will soon have a similar cast of characters patrolling the streets.

Hartford Crime Rates Drop

Reverand Brown at an Anti-Violence Rally this summer.

Earlier this week Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts and Mayor Pedro Segarra announced a 6.9% decrease in "serious crime" from 2009 to 2010. Hilda Munoz of the Hartford Courant, informs us that "serious crime is defined as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theft." All sound pretty serious to us. This is obviously a good thing right? Nobody could be upset about a drop in crime right?