Crime & Safety
Middletown Forum to Focus on Police Militarization, Surveillance
The forum will touch on some thorny subjects in the policing world.
A forum will be held at Wesleyan University about state bills that would bring changes to law enforcement departments around the state.
Middletown Police Chief William McKenna, ACLU Staff Attorney David McGuire and Middletown Youth Services Bureau's Justin Carbonella will participate.
One state House of Representatives bill would require police departments applying for surplus military equipment to hold a public forum on the matter. It would also require reports on SWAT deployments, said Patrick Gallahue, communications director for ACLU of Connecticut.
Another bill would ensure that law enforcement personnel must show probable cause before getting an order to track people through a cell phone provider or internet service provider.
Bills in the house and senate would mandate the appointment of a special assistant state's attorney or prosecutor from an outside judicial district concerning deadly incidents and police.
The forum will also focus on a memoranda of understandings between school resource officers and education officials regarding the arrest of students for non-criminal behavior.
The forum will take place April 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the McKelvey Room, 70 Wyllys Ave.
Image courtesy Department of Defense of MRAP vehicle
