The night Mosback crashed his cruiser

Seconds after Police Officer Robert Mosback veered off Riverside Avenue at high speed at 11:22 p.m. on June 26, a woman phoned 911.
“A cop just hit a pole,” she said.
“A cop hit a pole?” the dispatcher responded.
“Yeah, real bad,” she answered.
“Where?” the dispatcher asked.
“Riverside Avenue,” she said, before naming a nearby business.
“We’re sending help,” the dispatcher said, then asked rather plaintively, “Can you see if he’s OK?”
At about the same time, another caller, a man, reached a different emergency dispatcher.
“Hey, listen, we’re on Riverside Avenue and one of your cruisers just hit a telephone pole,” the man said.
“A cruiser?” the dispatcher answered. “A police cruiser?”
“Yeah,” the fellow said.
The caller said “the guy seems to be unconscious” behind the wheel. “He’s not responding,” the man said.
“Are you sure it’s a Bristol police cruiser?” the dispatcher asked.
“Listen, this isn’t a joke,” the caller said.
Digital audio files obtained by The Bristol Press through a Freedom of Information Act request provide a glimpse into the confusing minutes surrounding the on-duty crash that sent Mosback to St. Francis Hospital and knocked out power to thousands of residents for hours.
Mosback, who suffered only minor injuries, resigned from the force in September after an insurance company for the city declined to pay his workers compensation claim for medical bills after discovering a laboratory report that showed the officer had been intoxicated at the time of the late night, on-duty wreck.
Nothing in the hours of audio provided by the city – including dispatch messages, phone calls and other communications – proves that anyone knew Mosback had been drinking before totaling the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria.
Mosback, a 5-year veteran who has since asked for his job back, was briefly suspended for violating departmental policies in the accident but has not been charged with any crime. Two outside investigations are underway into the police department’s handling of the case.
The audio files, which encompass the first hour after the crash, do not disclose the names of the people talking. Most are calls among public safety personnel and dispatchers.
In addition to the Mosback crash, police also had to deal with another accident, a death and a young man who had a seizure, the ordinary background of many a night.  Click here for the full story.
Here's a video I made to let everybody hear some of the audio:

If you go back to this posting, you can see some of the documents pertaining to the case. I have more to add there. Have to get to that.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Chief apologizes to police

Police Chief DiVenere apparently feels chagrin about his remarks that he suspected a cover up in the case of Officer Robert Mosback.
The Hartford Courant's Don Stacom has a story his morning about a memorandum the chief wrote to the entire force in the wake of my story the other day about his "cover up" comments.
Here are some of the words the chief used, according to the Courant:  "This was a private comment made in complete frustration. ... I do sincerely hope that this was not the case and that this did not happen, but I said what I said during the heat of the moment. ...Please know that I regret any unintended consequences of those words and certainly never expected them to be in print."
If anyone has a copy of the memo, I'd love to see it. You can email it to me at scollins@bristolpress.com. Otherwise, I'll post it next week when I get a copy from the city.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Vonella: City Hall still hasn't phone him back

More than a week after downtown property owner Philip Vonella complained at a City Council meeting that Mayor Art Ward failed to return phone calls, he has yet to hear from the mayor.
Vonella said this morning he hasn't heard from Ward, any of the city councilors, the public works director, the police chief or anyone else at City Hall.
"When these guys don't call back, that tells you something," Vonella said.
Vonella is frustrated by rising crime, vandalism and a failure by city government to maintain municipal property downtown.
Vonella said the city spruced up a bit after his complaints -- particularly when Channel 3 followed up on a Press story last week -- but hasn't done anything serious to address the long-term need for "a firm plan" to make sure the problems are addressed.
He said he's heard from many other business owners and residents who are encouraging him to keep speaking out.
"This thing is going to mushroom and grow bigger," Vonella said.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Mayor blasted for downtown neglect

Frustrated by rising crime, vandalism and neglect from City Hall, a downtown property owner this week lashed out at Mayor Art Ward.
Philip Vonella, who owns two North Main Street properties, said he’s witnessing ever more drug dealing, “questionable characters,” drunks, vandalism and other unsavory activities happening downtown.
“I will not accept what is going on,” Vonella said, adding that he would hold Ward responsible for failing to take action. “People are afraid.”
Vonella said that he tried three times to get Ward on the phone in the past month but the mayor “never afforded me the respect of a phone call” in return.
Ward said he would talk with top city leaders soon to see what can be done to crack down on problems along North Main Street.
The mayor said he tried to return one of Vonella’s calls but couldn’t reach him. He said, though, that he made sure that department heads called the businessman each time to address specific complaints.
Police Chief John DiVenere backed up the mayor’s version.
He said in an email that Vonella “was completely out of line” in blasting the mayor. He said he called Vonella a few weeks ago at the mayor’s direction.
Click here for the full story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol fighting drug dealers now, officials say

Calling Bristol “a safe haven for drug dealing,” Republican mayoral contender Ken Johnson urged more help for city police to combat the problem.
Police Chief John DiVenere said Tuesday that Bristol “has a drug problem, as does every other community in the country. I know we’re not any worse than most.”
“We have a very safe community,” the chief said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say we had a problem, but we do very well in enforcing those laws.”
“I don’t want our drug dealers to think they have the run of the community, because they don’t,” DiVenere said.
Johnson said, though, that the department’s fight against drugs needs more resources.
“We need to send a strong message to the drug dealers and drug buyers that they are not welcome here in Bristol,” Johnson said in a prepared release Tuesday.
“Drugs in our community are not confined to the West End,” Johnson added. “They are in our neighborhoods and in our schools.”
Art Ward, the Democratic mayoral candidate, said that even one illegal drug transaction in town is too many. But, he said, the problems facing Bristol are no different than cities across the country are dealing with.
Democratic city Councilor Frank Nicastro, a police commissioner, said that police are “fighting day and night” against drugs and keeping the dealers in check.
He called Johnson’s comments “an election ploy” and challenged the Republican to prove his statement that the city has become “a safe haven for drug dealing.”
“Where’s his proof of that?” Nicastro asked.
“We combat drugs very effectively in the city of Bristol,” said Nicastro, who served as mayor from 1993 to 2003.
DiVenere said his department considers the battle against drugs “very serious” and it’s a high priority for him.
He said that every officer is trained about drug enforcement and there is “a very active narcotics enforcement team.”
Moreover, the chief said, the department has an active DARE program to educate students about the dangers of drugs. It also have four police dogs, including one that’s specifically trained for narcotics enforcement.
Johnson said that he would work with the chief and Police Board “to allocate more resources” to the police. Ward said he’s already discussed ideas with the chief.
Johnson pointed to a “a successful drug sting in New Britain this summer that netted more than 100 arrests of drug dealers and buyers” and called for “similar sweeps here in Bristol as our city has become a safe haven for drug dealing.”
He said he would beef up the narcotics division by providing police with the tools they need to step up the effort to crack down on the narcotics trade.
Johnson also said the community needs to be alert for gang activity.
“We cannot be blind to the threat of gang violence,” Johnson said. “Look at the increase in graffiti – it might look like art but to me it is an ominous sign that the gangs and the drug dealers are already here.”
Johnson said residents should be “vigilant,” looking for signs of gangs and drug trafficking such as graffiti and sneakers over power lines.
“I’d like to see a confidential tip-line to the police,” he said.
Johnson said that he believes a confidential tip line “would encourage the reporting of incidents or suspicious activity. If one phone call leads to averting violence or helps shut down a drug dealer then we got the bang for our buck.”
What Johnson apparently doesn’t know is that the city has had a confidential tip line: (860) 585-TIPS.
“We’ve had one for many years,” DiVenere said.

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Minutes for Federal Hill revitalization committee

Neighborhood Revitalization Committee Meeting Minutes from May 30,2007

Attendees: David Fortier, Detective Bill Kenney, Francine Petosa, Jessica Dumont, Bonnie Lodovico, Debie Alos, Susan Roesch, Pat Marchand, Ken Hicks, Mark Federchuck, Michelle Curry, Ed D’Amato, Olare Swe’va, Councilperson Craig Minor

Call to Meeting: Meeting was called to order by Library Board Chair David Fortier at 5:35PM

New Business
Opened the meeting with talk led by Pat Marchand of the Bristol Garden Club. Ms. Marchand provided practical advice on urban landscape improvements. Some suggestions were for container planting and perennial planting suggestions. One notable suggestion for possible future neighborhood event is a “plant swap” whereby neighbors swap perennial plantings when they thin-out their garden beds. Ms. Marchand finished the talk with a question/answer period.

Reports
Report from Councilperson Minor was given on the status of the Main Street streetscape proposal. He reported that the Board of Finance approved the funding for the design of a new streetscape. He added that this is a very hopeful sign that the actual work will be approved eventually. The plan as it stands will only reach up Main St. as far as the library. A discussion ensued on the possibility of requesting approval for a design that would include the remainder of Main up to Center St. Chairman Dave Fortier offered to write a letter to request consideration for such a plan. It was suggested to Sue Roesch that The Federal Hill Association may also send a letter. PC Tech owner, Ken Hicks, asked about angle parking and plans for community parking of some type to encourage people to use the Main St. businesses. He was told by Councilperson Minor that parking would be in the plan but angle parking may not be feasible given the width of the street.


Old Business
267-269 Main St. property and HUD status was discussed. Jessica Dumont provided a link to Multi-Family Clearing House at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/hc/mfhc.cfm as suggested by Noel Miller at HUD’s legal department. Mr. Swe’va, the manager of the property, was in attendance and offered that he and the owners continue to work on improving the property and cooperating with the Bristol Police Department.
Police call procedures were discussed. Ken Hicks relayed a good response to a call into the police department. Michelle Curry reported a disappointing response to a suspected break-in of her car. Detective Kenney spoke with the group on calling back into the police department when you do not get an initial response. He reiterated Captain McIntyre’s advice to ask for the shift manager if it does not appear that your complaint is not responded to in a timely manner.
Chamber’s Clean-Up Day was discussed. Sue Roesch reported a response of 12-13 people, most of whom were Federal Hill Association members. She further reported that the brick building at 165 Riverside Ave had the largest problem with litter. Ocean State Job Lot and McDonald’s have both appeared to have improved their efforts to keep their properties/parking lots litter free. David Fortier offered to send them a thank-you in recognition of responsible property upkeep.
City of Bristol garbage cans request was discussed. Jessica Dumont enquired of Sue Roesch the addresses where there might be the greatest need. Sue responded that the convenience store on High Street was a good candidate for the garbage can request, pending owner agreement. She will report back with owner response. Jessica Dumont agreed to write the letter to the Public Works requesting a garbage can for that corner and for the corner of the 165 Riverside Ave property.
The status of the missing fence panel located on Bristol Public Library property bordering the property directly behind the library. Dave Fortier reported that this issue had been referred to the Property Committee of the Library Board for consideration.


Any other matters

Litter prevention signs were discussed. The merits of a reminder sign as opposed to a sign warning of fines were discussed. Detective Bill Kenney said that those signs would have to be requested from the Public Works not the Police Department. Det. Kenney also made the interesting suggestion of “Adopt a Neighborhood” idea. Perhaps a more positive and more effective way to get residents to treat the downtown area with respect.
Captain McIntyre reiterated the police department’s commitment to public safety. He went on to outline the importance of giving the police detailed information on any suspect persons, if possible, to keep the dispatcher on the line until police arrive.
Police bike patrols are scheduled to begin in May.

Next meeting is scheduled for June 27, 2007 at 5:30

Meeting was adjourned at 6:30




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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com