Three decades ago, Bridgeport consistently led the state in the number of homicides per year. In 1990, the number of Bridgeport homicides peaked at 62 deaths, a state record and more than double the city’s historic rate.
These days, there are less than half that number of murders each year and Hartford now leads the state in the numbers reported there annually.
But the number of homicides in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven has remained consistent over the last decade, raising questions about whether policing and social programs — and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on them — are making a difference.
Since 2011, Bridgeport averaged roughly 17 homicides per year while Hartford since 2015 averaged 25 homicides and New Haven 14 homicides, according to data obtained from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
And the victims are chillingly similar in each city — mostly Black males ranging from teenagers to adults in their 30s. Women are rarely killed in the three cities, the data shows.
“I’m shocked when I see it,” said state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, referring to the numbers.
“It seems like we have not learned anything, and our values have not improved,” Moore said. “That’s discerning that there is not an improvement. What we have done in the past has not worked. If something stayed the same, I always say it didn’t work.”
Pallbearers carry the casket of Nyair Nixon out of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit following his funeral service in Bridgeport, Conn. Oct. 8, 2020. Nixon was shot to death in Bridgeport on Sept. 27.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
While the number of homicides in recent years remains troubling, it was far worse in Bridgeport and other large cities during the late 1980s and 1990s.
Much of that violence was fueled by crack cocaine and orchestrated by highly organized and profitable gangs such as the Latin Kings and the Nation. In contrast, today’s street gangs are more loosely organized neighborhood groups with little central control. A coalition of federal and state law enforcement task forces and bringing the State Police into Bridgeport led to a break up of the organized gangs, which dramatically lowered the death rate by the end of the 1990s.
Still, a variety of politicians and experts said the current statistics show how intractable murder has become in the big cities and how difficult it is to reduce or eliminate that violence.
Lieutenant Chris LaMaine, center and Bridgeport Police prepare to enter the homicide scene at 527 Pearl Harbor Street in Bridgeport, Conn. on Monday, August 13, 2018.
Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media
Some suggested diverting funding away from policing to social needs, such as access to health care, conflict resolution, ending truancy, mental health services, new jobs and increased mentor programs in schools.
Others urged a better accounting of the private and state social programs now in place so funding for those that work can be increased and taken away from those that don’t work.
Still, Claudine Constant, ACLU public policy and advocacy director, said policing alone is not going to solve the homicide problem.
“Our big cities are doing the same tired old thing over and over, which is giving police more money,” Constant said.
“For decades, Connecticut has only invested in policing rather than investing in the people themselves,” Constant said. “People want prevention and support, such as health care access and quality education. All those things are what will help people thrive.”
A spokesperson for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim did not respond to a request for comment on the murder data and possible solutions.
Consistency is the trend
The data obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media shows there were 196 homicides in Bridgeport between 2011 and 2021. The number is relatively consistent, although there are fluctuations from year to year.
For example, the city recorded 20 homicides in 2011 and 23 in 2012 and then yearly numbers remained in the low to mid-teens until 2016, when the number of homicides suddenly dropped to nine. But that dip was erased in 2017 when murders rose to 23 before dipping back down to 13 in 2018. In 2019, 18 people were murdered; 22 in 2020; and 23 in 2021.
Overall, 178 of the victims were male and 18 were female. Victims identified as Black accounted for 121 of those murdered; 50 were listed as Hispanic; and 16 were identified as white. Two were identified as Asian, while the remainder had an unknown or “other” race in the medical examiner’s data.
The majority of those killed in Bridgeport were in their 20s and 30s and 25 victims were teenagers or in the 18- to 19-year-old age group. Most died from a gunshot wound while a few died of other causes, such as blunt force trauma, drug overdose and stabbing.
A memorial for shooting victim Eric Diaz has been erected on Beardsley Street in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday Sept. 15, 2017. At right is Rack Jones, Diaz’s half brother. Bridgeport police spokesman Av Harris said the 19-year-old Diaz was shot dead Thursday around 11 p.m. Diaz was found shot in the stomach after police responded to a report of shots fired at the intersection of Beardsley Street and Newfield Avenue.
Christian Abraham / Christian Abraham
The story was much the same in Hartford and New Haven. In the state’s capital, 177 people were murdered between 2015 and 2021 while 101 were murdered in New Haven during the same period.
In Hartford, 161 of the victims were male and 88 were male in New Haven, compared to 16 females in Hartford and 13 in New Haven. The majority of those killed in Hartford and New Haven were young and African American, according to the data.
D. Stanley Lord, president of the Bridgeport chapter of the NAACP, said the same economic, societal and moral challenges exist in all three cities.
“We live in an environment where we have desensitized ourselves to the realization of death, with all these gangs using guns,” Lord said.
“You shoot someone in real life and on video and it seems to be the same,” Lord said. “There is no such thing as mediation and conversation. It’s like the second thing they chose. The first thing is a gun.”
Lord stressed that an important contributing factor is a lack of good jobs, training and hope in inner city neighborhoods.
“We don’t have the outlet for our youth or something positive, such as training, and we leave them to streets,” Lord said. “We have to start retraining our middle school kids to a different pathway, even back to elementary school, so they want to become teachers and police officers and be positive.”
Instead, Lord said authorities are throwing “program after program after program. But are the programs reaching them where they are at? Some kids don’t want to be reached. Unless they are prominent athletes, they get more encouragement from the street.”
Staff from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner remove the body of a Stamford man from the scene of an early morning shooting on McLevy Green in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday April 20, 2017. The male victim, identified as Max Antoine, 33, was struck by gunfire and collapsed in the middle of McLevy Green and was pronounced dead at the scene. Banks and State streets were closed during the crime scene investigation, which covered an entire block of downtown well into the morning commute.
Cedar Attanasio / Hearst Connecticut Media
Jessica Pizzano, director of victim services for Survivors of Homicide, said poverty, mental health and addiction play a major role in the murders.
“I think at a core it’s people struggling financially,” Pizzano said.
“Kids don’t go to the street because they are bad; they are looking for love and affection,” Pizzano said. “(Gangs) are families, not great families, but for some that is the only structure they know. Anyone showing you kindness.”
Pizzano said better coordination of mental health and addiction services would help those willing to seek assistance.
“I always talk about a one stop shop for things,” Pizzano said. “Transitional programs could be that. Often, if they received counseling, they would not have ended up in that situation. A lot of agencies offer services but I’m not sure they always talk to each other.”
Guns and demand
State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport and co-chairman of the judiciary committee, said the illegal flow of guns into the state’s cities is sustaining the murder rate.
“I’m sure almost all of those murders are committed by firearms,” Stafstrom noted. “Almost all of those firearms are coming from outside Connecticut and from states with way more permissive gun laws than Connecticut. They are used to wreak havoc on the streets of Bridgeport and every other major city.”
Stafstrom added: “It is criminal negligence that Congress has not stepped up and implemented more robust background checks. As tough as we make our laws in Connecticut, illegal guns continue to flow into our streets from outside of the state.”
Still, Stafstrom said there is more that can be done in Connecticut, including a more equitable funding of education in the big cities.
“During the last legislative cycle, we invested in children’s mental health and funded a firearm task force,” Stafstrom said. “One governor proposal that got blocked is tightening loopholes on ghost guns. There is more we can and could be doing on the state level.”
Bridgeport Police investigate the scene on Madison Ave. where a man sitting in a car, seen here, was shot and killed in Bridgeport, Conn., May 13, 2016
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
Jeremy Stein, director of CT Against Gun Violence, said access to guns is an issue but an even bigger problem is the demand for guns.
“You have to ask why there is such a high demand and look at the root causes,” Stein said. “When you take jobs away and create food and housing insecurity, those are all root causes and gun violence will increase.”
Stein said the solution is to create jobs, build affordable housing and provide mental health resources.
“And things like reentry training when they go to jail,” Stein said. “What are we doing for them? Or are we not providing anything but their old way of life?”
Stein said the social and training programs already available need to be organized under one umbrella, such as a statewide Office of Violence Prevention charged with funding community organizations and providing accountability over how those funds are used.
“We need technical help for these groups to see if this investment is working and why,” Stein said. “Sometimes what you do today may not have an effect for several years. The state has an obligation to help with this.”
Bridgeport police investigate the shooting death of a young man on State Street at Lee Street in Bridgeport, Conn., on Christmas Eve day Thursday Dec. 24, 2015.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
Harold Dimbo, director of Project Longevity in Bridgeport, agreed that a more inclusive approach to solving inner city violence is needed.
“Everyone has to buy in; it’s the only way we are going to bring crime down,” Dimbo said. “That’s the direction we are going, bringing everybody together.”
Project Longevity is a collaborative effort between law enforcement, advocates and nonprofit community organizations to reduce gun violence in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. Using funding from the state, the project hosts a variety of school and community events and programs.
Dimbo said the challenges are significant.
“We had an essay contest about how gun violence makes them feel and gave the winner $100,” Dimbo said, referring to a recent program for young students.
“Through the essays, we could see a lot of these kids are traumatized,” Dimbo said. “A lot feel like ‘I got to get a gun; I don’t want to die; I have to protect myself.’ Police are not going to be able to stop that.”
Dimbo said the gangs of the 1980s and 1990s were very different than today’s street gangs.
“Back then, a gang had structure,” Dimbo said. “They had a president, secretary and a treasurer and bylaws you had to follow. They don’t have that now. They have a bunch of kids doing what they want to do. It’s just kids and no one is in charge.”
Officers and detectives from Bridgeport Police Department investigate a homicide between the building pictured and a home at the intersections of George Street and Madison Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday Sept. 29, 2015. Officers were at this storefront in hopes of using the shop’s security footage to help in the investigation.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
He said the introduction of crack cocaine fueled turf wars that led to a startling number of homicides.
“Drug dealers were making millions of dollars,” said Dimbo, who at the time worked as Bridgeport undercover officer assigned to breaking up the gangs. “So when someone sees you making that money, they would come in and try to take over your territory. It became a multi-million dollar operation.”
The solution, he said, was a combination of undercover work, bringing in the state police and federal task forces that focused on racketeering charges against gang leaders.
“It started with the state police and the federal government got involved and started a task force,” Dimbo said. “But (the violence and drugs) left a lot of families without fathers and we are seeing the repercussions of that now.”
Changing course
Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, said the Republican caucus last year offered a plan to make Connecticut’s cities safer but the majority Democrats refused to act on it.
“Everything we have done deals with the symptoms of crime,” Kelly said. “It’s not getting to the root cause of crime. Connecticut has failed; we have failed our youth. It comes back to hope and opportunity and creating an economy that thrives.”
Police are investigating the fatal shooting of 33-year-old Derrick Hill. Hill, an employee of the Rootsman Kitchen on Park Avenue, was killed Saturday, July 25, 2015, outside the restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. Another employee was wounded. A memorial was set up at the scene on Monday, July 27, 2015.
Cathy Zuraw / Hearst Connecticut Media
The Republican plan proposed measures to prevent truancy, increase mediation services to reduce retaliatory crime, provide mentors for young people and award money to only the most successful programs.
Other ideas included recruiting more police officers, focusing high school programs on learning about law enforcement and mandating GPS monitoring for juveniles arrested for violent crimes and repeat offenders awaiting trial for a prior offense.
“We had a historic opportunity to do something,” Kelly said. “The governor had a $2.1 billion surplus. Meanwhile, you see the statistics. These represent human beings. We had an opportunity to do something in our cities to make a difference and Democrats would not move our agenda.”
Two residents pay their respects at a spot where candles have been placed for a shooting victim who died, at the Trumbull Gardens housing complex on Trumbull Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday June 13, 2015. One man was killed and seven other were injured after the shooting there on Thursday.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
As Republicans pushed their plan last year, Democrats complained that it was too focused on punishment and that crime statistics didn’t justify a new wave of reform. They also opposed changes to the 2020 Police Accountability Act.
The Republican proposal called for restoring qualified immunity for officers in most cases, allowing motor vehicle searches without consent and reducing liability if an officer does not intervene when excessive force is improperly deployed.
Constant, the ACLU official, said polling in 2020 found that most people of color favored investing in schools, social service workers and making sure students receive routine needs such as breakfast and school supplies.
“Stopping violent crime is a small piece of what police should do,” Constant added. “Instead of investing in police departments, we want to see money reallocated to our schools and for housing, so teachers are not spending money out of their own pocket to buy school supplies.”
Moore said there is no magic answer to murder in the big cities.
“I don’t think any of us really know what the single answer is and that’s why we do so many different things,” Moore said. “A lot of these people don’t see a future and they don’t value life because they don’t see a future. Going to jail these days is almost like a badge.”
bcummings@ctpost.com
Police investigate at the scene of a deadly shooting at the Trumbull Gardens housing complex in Bridgeport, Conn., on Thursday June 11, 2015. The shooting, which happened around at 1 a.m. left one man dead and seven others injured.
A small memorial remains at the scene where Jorge “Indio” Tirado’s car collided with a tree after he was shot and killed while driving on Fox Street, in Bridgeport, Conn. on the morning of Sept. 24.
Bridgeport police investigate a homicide that occurred during a robbery shortly before 8 AM at T. Market at 1482 Reservoir Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Wednesday, March 25, 2015. The victim, Hakeem Joseph 32, of Bridgeport, a worker at the market, was shot multiple times in the torso and died at St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
A memorial is set up for Jose Lebron, the city’s first homicide victim of the year, at the corner of William and Ogden streets in Bridgeport, Conn., Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.
A memorial is set up for Jose Lebron, the city’s first homicide victim of the year, at the corner of William and Ogden streets in Bridgeport, Conn., Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.