Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody says he has disciplined all three major crimes division supervisors involved in what’s known as the “dead pool” incident in early December, when officers were asked to place bets on the location of the first homicide of 2021. The three supervisors involved have been charged with different violations after failing to take strong action. The text message was initially sent by then-Detective Jeffrey Placzek. Placzek was previously placed on unpaid suspension for 120 days, demoted from detective to officer and his return will be based on a pending evaluation. The investigation was completed Wednesday and it will also be sent to an outside review at the request of Hartford City Council members.
The department’s move to discipline major crimes leaders for not taking enough action has already received support. In a statement released shortly after the investigation, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the decision emphasized the standard expected from leaders.
“It was good to learn through the investigation that the officer’s direct supervisor reprimanded the officer soon after the text message was sent and before this incident became public, but I agree with Chief Thody that more should have been done and more formal measures taken by all of the officer’s supervisors,” Bronin said.