The city of Hartford and the Hartford Police Union have asked a judge to block subpoenas issued by the city's inspector general, heightening a clash over independent oversight of the police department.
Members of the Hartford Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) authorized the inspector general in April to issue legal demands for police to turn over internal affairs records in seven stalled cases.
The subpoenas would force the internal affairs commander to produce material such as body camera videos and interviews with officers taken during investigations into citizen complaints.
The department missed a May 7 deadline to comply. A law firm hired by the city then filed a motion to quash the subpoenas in court. The lawyers argue the records should not be released without additional safeguards because they contain sensitive information tied to sexual assault, domestic violence, pending criminal investigations and a pending prosecution.
The Hartford Police Union also filed a legal challenge on behalf of the internal affairs commander, who is named in the subpoenas. The union maintains the process violates its collective bargaining agreement, and that an ordinance giving the inspector general — rather than the board itself — subpoena power was not properly established under state law.
"We want things done the right way," Hartford Police Union President James Rutkauski said. "If you're going to have the judicial power to subpoena people, and then there is going to be a ramification legally afterwards if that subpoena isn't adhered to, then do it the right way."
The judge's decisions in the two cases could mark a turning point for the CPRB, which has more forcefully asserted its role as a watchdog for the police department in recent months.
The board conducts independent investigations into allegations of police misconduct, but served in an advisory role for much of its existence.
City leaders granted the CPRB new powers in 2020 amid a nationwide push to reform policing after the killing of George Floyd, including the ability to subpoena records and initiate binding arbitration.
Attorney Joseph Lopez, a longtime public defender who took over the role of inspector general in November 2024, has worked alongside the board to utilize those new tools.
The board last year initiated the arbitration process for the first time, over the objection of the police union.
"I think we have traction and I'm not going anywhere. So I'm in for the fight and we're ready to do this."Hartford Inspector General Joseph Lopez
Lopez said cooperation from the police department with his investigations appears to have slowed since that time. In a briefing to the CPRB last week, Lopez pointed to a growing backlog of cases that can't move forward because police have yet to furnish their internal affairs records.
Lopez told members he plans to make greater use of subpoenas in the future if records are withheld.
"I think we have traction and I'm not going anywhere," Lopez said. "So I'm in for the fight and we're ready to do this."
A spokesperson for the office of Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam didn't respond to a request for comment. A Hartford police spokesperson said the department can't answer questions about pending litigation.
In a legal filing, the city's lawyers asked a judge to review the records under seal and order them to be prohibited from disclosure outside the inspector general's office. The city also asked to redact the names of victims and witnesses, witness statements and information related to warrants, police tactics, investigative techniques and "prosecution-sensitive materials."
In a response filed in court, Lopez argued doing so would render the subpoena power meaningless because it would leave the inspector general with no greater access to records than any other citizen requesting them under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Additionally, if the city's request is granted, no victim of sexual assault or domestic violence would be able to have the civilian review board investigate a complaint against a police officer, Lopez wrote.
"I'm kind of tired of, to be honest with you, this whole back and forth that I've experienced for 18 months," Lopez told the board last week. "We can't give you that. We can't give you this. I'm just tired of it."
Editor's note: Arunan Arulampalam's father-in-law is Gregory B. Butler, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of Connecticut Public.
