HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC) - The Hartford Police Department is expanding its efforts on improving non-fatal shooting investigations with a federal grant of nearly half-a-million dollars from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. Office of Justice Programs is awarding the city of Hartford $499,737 for its Smart Policing Initiative that focuses on the police department's response to non-fatal shootings.
Chief of Police Jason Thody attributed the success in winning the competitive award to the police department's evidence-based program that's already working to improve non-fatal shooting responses.
According to Thody, the pandemic made it more difficult for police to prosecute suspects and to close non-fatal shooting cases.
In response to those challenges and to the rising number of shootings in the city, Thody said the department set up in early 2020 the "Shooting Response Team" that focused on responding to non-fatal shooting incidents with the same speed and intensity as homicide investigations.
"For years, the homicides garnered the most attention. It doesn't mean that we don't investigate non-fatal shootings, we certainly do, but we want to give them the same attention, the same level of detailed investigation, the same rapid response so the victims of these shootings don't feel like they have to go out there and take the law into their own hands," Thody explained.
The team's efforts have led to a significant increase in case clearance and success in prosecution of non-fatal shooting suspects, Thody said.
The clearance rate of non-fatal shooting cases have jumped 162%, he said.
With the federal grant, Thody said the team will be able to expand on that work with an increase in personnel, training and pay.
Funding will be primarily used to bring in new detectives, Thody said, including two detectives for the Shooting Response Team and two detectives for the crime scene division. In addition, a data analyst will be joining the team to strengthen the evidence-based program.
The funds will also be going toward procedural justice training. The goal with the training is to shift the focus toward the victim to prevent victim retaliation, Thody said.
Funds will cover overtime pay too, Thody said, to ensure detectives and officers are on the scene processing evidence.
The federal grant funding will be given out over the course of three years.