Bridgeport stun-gun complaint draws City Hall’s ire

Bridgeport City Councilwoman Karen Jackson sits with her son Gabriyel Fraser, 15, in Bridgeport, Conn. July 23, 2018. Jackson has filed a complaint that Bridgeport Police used excessive force on her son during a recent incident. less Bridgeport City Councilwoman Karen Jackson sits with her son Gabriyel Fraser, 15, in Bridgeport, Conn. July 23, 2018. Jackson has filed a complaint that Bridgeport Police used excessive force on her son during ... more Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Bridgeport stun-gun complaint draws City Hall’s ire 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — As a mother, City Councilwoman Karen Jackson’s instinct when her son was allegedly beaten and shocked with a Taser after fleeing the cops was to defend the 15-year-old.

Now Jackson says City Hall is trying to shut her up.

“Any other councilman would have been flipping out,” Jackson said Monday about her son, Gabriyel Fraser. “I didn’t create this mess. I’m not going to let you (the city) walk all over my son.”

Hearst Connecticut Media reported last week that Jackson had lodged a citizen’s complaint with the police department’s internal affairs office about Fraser’s treatment. At that time she also said that the handful of officers involved in the June 27 incident “abused their authority.”

On Friday, Mark Anastasi, a veteran attorney for the city, warned Jackson that she also has a responsibility as a member of the city’s legislative body to let the investigation of what happened to Fraser take its course without publicly rushing to conclusions.

“It can prove particularly harmful when an elected official such as yourself prematurely calls into question the performance of officers sworn to protect our community, as well as long-standing court-ordered procedures to ensure the integrity of the civilian oversight process,” Anastasi wrote Jackson in a letter she shared with Hearst.

When and if the internal affairs probe finds fault, the punishment of the accused officers will be up to a police commission whose members are nominated by the mayor and approved by the council.

Fraser was apprehended after he and other young men fled from a female cop who was investigating allegations they had broken into a yard in the Nob Hill Circle neighborhood, jumped on a trampoline and stolen a ball.

Jackson and Fraser filed a complaint with the police claiming the latter, once caught, had “complied with police to stand hands up” but was “beaten” by four officers, Tased in his legs, handcuffed and received several scratches on his “leg, arm, face, lower back and wrist.” Fraser was also charged with interfering with a police officer.

Police Chief Armando Perez in an interview last week said an officer approached Fraser and his friends to ask questions and that they should not have run. Their flight resulted in other police being called to the scene, he said.

But Perez also said he was “not comfortable” with the use of the Taser on Fraser.

Perez said the Taser darts connected to wires that deliver shocks to the body were not fired at Fraser. Instead, the chief said, the Taser device was pressed directly against the 15-year-old.

”You just apply it to whatever part of the body and it causes a lot of pain,” Perez said.

“It’s called ‘drive stunning,’ ” John DeCarlo, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven who has 34 years in policing, said Monday when told about the incident. “Basically, it is used when you are too close to discharge the darts in the Taser.”

DeCarlo said drive stunning is common and “generally on the same level of the continuum of force that the Taser darts are.”

Criticizing a complaint

Anastasi, who for years ran Bridgeport’s law office and remains an influential voice within that department, began his letter to Jackson by emphasizing he understands “her strong feelings that your son was treated inappropriately by officers ... and that your instincts are to support your son in this incident.”

But, Anastasi wrote, “As a council member, many of our citizens rightly look to you for guidance and leadership. When your constituents hear you as their elected official criticizing our police officers, this may lead some of them to lose confidence in our public safety services. Obviously, loss of confidence in the police department can undermine community policing initiatives and unintentionally contribute to a less safe community for all.”

Lastly, Anastasi warned Jackson that she should “remain cautious that your public criticism of the police performance in this incident can in no way be misinterpreted as an attempt to use your official position for personal gain ... and that you are neither seeking, nor will you accept, any preferential treatment due to your official elected position.”

In the coming months, Jackson and her 19 council colleagues are expected to vote on a police chief’s five-year contract. The city is in the middle of a search for a top cop, with Perez, a close friend of Mayor Joe Ganim’s, in the running.

Jackson is a freshman council member who petitioned her way onto the 2017 primary ballot. As such, she is more of an outsider in a town with a history of political connections.

Jackson said Monday only a small number of her fellow council members have reached out to her since learning about the incident with her son.

One of those, Councilman Kyle Langan, another freshman and a vocal Ganim critic, in an email to Jackson wrote: “I’m deeply troubled to read of the violation experienced by your son and family, though I unfortunately am not surprised. We see examples of our neighbors experiencing things like this regularly and maintain the same (police department) leadership. ... I’m here to support whatever efforts you want to make to bring attention to the cultural shift necessary in our police.”

Council President Aidee Nieves on Monday said as a mother she “understands her frustrations and wanting for answers.” But Nieves, who read Anastasi’s letter to Jackson, added she also understands the attorney’s points.

”She wears two hats (as a mother and council member),” Nieves said of Jackson. “As an elected (official), we have to be very careful and not be seen like we want preferential treatment. She should let it (the internal investigation) run its course.”