Hamden officers didn't activate body cameras when pulling guns on a woman involved in a car crash

On Aug. 4 of that year, Hamden police officers were dispatched to Newhallville to investigate multiple reports of gunshots taking place in the area. Neighbors who called the police said that a red sedan was involved in the gunfire.

Later that night, officers were informed of a car crash that had taken place somewhere on Whitney Avenue and Augur or Eli Street. It involved a red vehicle that fit the description offered by witnesses.

“If it’s a red sedan, use caution,” officers were instructed, according to radio footage.

Use of force reports show that three officers pulled out and pointed their firearms in the direction of the car upon arriving at the scene — but no body cam footage was provided to Dunn to illustrate the officers’ actions.

One officer reported an ​“unsuccessful activation attempt.”

The other two wrote in the reports that they did have visual evidence of what happened.

Acting Chief Tim Wydra and town officials told the Independent Wednesday that the officers had failed to turn on their cameras out of fear for their lives.

What the cameras do show is officers helping a Black woman out of her car, whose front was smashed next to a telephone pole. ​“Don’t hurt me,” she pleads. Wydra said that her car had T‑boned a police cruiser.

The woman sobs as police officers take her out of the damaged car and try to deescalate the situation, saying, ​“Sit, Sit, Sit, Sit,” and ​“I’m not gonna hurt you, relax, relax, relax.” Cameras show countless cop cars filling the street around the accident.

“It’s not related. It’s definitely not related,” an officer says concerning the car crash and the shootings.

In a recording of a phone call between a witness and a police dispatcher, yelling and swearing can be heard in the background.

“Who’s cursing in the background?” the dispatcher inquires.

“The cops. There’s like six cops here,” a man who identified himself as Eugene replies.

The dispatcher asks if Eugene is OK.

“Yeah, I’m good — I just ran out because there was a fucking car crash. I heard the cops. I ran because I heard the cops say something like, ​‘Crossfire, crossfire,’ so I fucking ran and began to duck.”

The Independent identified the woman involved in the incident; she did not respond to requests for comment. There is no available record that she filed a formal complaint — though Dunn has yet to receive all of the civilian complaints made over the last six years.

“Reviewed all reports and body camera footage and determined the force used was justified and reasonable under the circumstances,” reporting supervisor Sgt. Jason Venditto wrote on the use of force reports. No body camera footage showing the officers’ armed encounter with the driver is ostensibly available.

Acting Chief Wydra, who was a lieutenant at the time, signed off on the report to confirm that a ​“proper and complete investigation was conducted.”

Wydra defended that sentiment on Wednesday when the Independent reached out to hear his stance on the case.

“She collided with a police car and the car matched a description of a shooter fleeing the scene,” he said. ​“As officers arrived at the accident scene, they quickly believed that that car was the one that left the scene of the shooting. Three of them drew their weapons out of fear of their own safety,” he recalled.

The one legitimate exemption for not activating a body camera, he said, is when doing so could jeopardize officers’ own ability to protect themselves in that moment.

He complimented the officers for producing ​“complete and articulate” use of force reports that described what had taken place despite the fact that visual footage was not available to show the officers drawing their guns.

“We had our own use of force forms for several years before it was required by the state,” he asserted. The department offered proper oversight of the incident, he argued, by having two supervisory officers sign off on each officers’ report.

But, he added, ​“having numerous layers of oversight,” as Dunn suggested, ​“is no problem.”
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