In the aftermath of the brutal murders of three members of a white Cheshire family, it didn’t take long for some to see subtle racism behind the state government reaction to and news media coverage of the crime.
Some see a disparity between the reaction to the sensational murders of a suburban family and the routine acceptance of almost daily homicides in Connecticut’s urban centers, where the victims usually are not white.
While it is probably unwise to spend too much time debating the news media reaction, critics have a valid point about the government.
The fact that there is an acceptable level of violence in Connecticut cities is an unspeakable truth of our politics and law enforcement. “Acceptable,” because as long as the level of violence is somewhat constant and limited to the poor, there is little government reaction at all. While any murder in one of the state’s larger cities may prompt public declarations from political leaders that “violence will not be tolerated,” there is no follow through. Politicians are quick to move on.
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Murder Is Murder
The annual murder rates in Connecticut’s biggest cities are routinely in the double digits. While no one disputes the horrific nature of the Petit murders; a typical murder in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven or Waterbury is no less horrific for the victim.
Sometimes the victims are less sympathetic characters, but the law is supposed to make no exception for the taking of a human life. Many urban crime victims are just as innocent as the Petit family, but the General Assembly does not react the same way when an ex-con stabs a man in the north end of Hartford and lets him stumble a few blocks to his death. There are no calls for hearings when a woman in New Haven is shot dead in front of her children by a boyfriend strung out on drugs.
Of the dozens of annual murders that routinely occur in Connecticut cities there is no doubt a sizeable percentage are committed by people with criminal records. People, it can be argued, who should have been in prison serving more time just like the suspects in the Petit case.
Activists have often called for a review of the parole system in the aftermath of these run of the mill — poor on poor — deaths, but there has never been a public outcry big enough to actually force change. Not as long as the loss of life was within acceptable norms.
The other indisputable fact of Connecticut politics is that it is dominated — at the highest levels — by white people who live mostly in the suburbs. Whether intentional or not, there is a disconnect with the every day lives of the population of Connecticut’s cities and those who set priorities in government. It’s easy to see how certain levels of violence — including murder — can come to be viewed as acceptable, by leaders who are able to avoid the daily struggles of life in the bad part of town.
This disconnect is obvious, but another aspect of the issue is harder to understand. There is willingness among urban legislators, mayors and city councilors to stand by and watch it happen. Outrage and committed follow-through on behalf of these leaders is seldom seen and often amounts to little more than street theater.
The Petit case may lead to changes in the parole system, but the fact that reform is only coming now, after years of requests from mostly non-elected urban leaders who recognized a problem, reveals another long-running tragedy of justice in Connecticut.
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Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
