Armed felon: On New Haven streets, it’s ‘survival of fittest’ Stemming tide of guns seen as key

(Photo by Peter Hvizdak ó New Haven Register) During a photography portrait session with a New Haven Register photographer on Jan. 30, 2014, in New Haven, an African-American male of New Haven, a convicted felon in his late 20s, shows off a 9mm Smith & Wesson model 659 semi-automatic firearm that he says is stolen and which he says he uses for his personal protection. less (Photo by Peter Hvizdak ó New Haven Register) During a photography portrait session with a New Haven Register photographer on Jan. 30, 2014, in New Haven, an African-American male of New Haven, a ... more Photo: New Haven Register Photo: New Haven Register Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Armed felon: On New Haven streets, it’s ‘survival of fittest’ 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> “Joe” once shot someone and believes that part of the impetus for gun violence in the city is self-defense.

“It’s all about force, everyone is trying to force someone else to do something their way. Youth use force in many cases to defend themselves on these streets,” said Joe.

Joe, which is not his real name, is a convicted felon in his late 20s who agreed to speak with the Register about the city’s gun violence epidemic, from his perspective.

Joe, who still has a gun, said that in addition to self-defense, the attitude is “It’s survival of the fittest and the pistol is the equalizer,” and there are many other reasons youths arm themselves.

Last year the city suffered 20 homicides and the majority of the victims and known suspects were African-American men. There have been more than 1,300 non-fatal shootings over the past decade in New Haven.

Further, while the impact of gun violence affects every community, African-American children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from gun homicide than white youths, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, while 15 percent of youth in America are black, African Americans accounted for 45 percent of child and teen gun deaths in 2010, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence website.

To protect his identity, Joe would not provide details of his criminal conviction, but did say he once shot someone and the victim survived.

RELATED: Why we ran that photo of a New Haven man posing with stolen gun

Lack of structure in some homes, a desire of some young people not to have “to work hard like someone else had to” for material goods, and lack of opportunities and recreational outlets are contributors to violence, he said. Even hunger can play a role, he said.

“Most kids have no organization and the easy way to get anything is to take it; jealously and poverty runs rampant in the community.” he said.

“Thirteen- and 14-year-olds are forced to be very violent; these are the ‘stick-up kids’ in the streets that will get a pistol and rob or kill anyone to make money to feed their families,” Joe said.

There are kids who rob and kill out of pure necessity, he said.

“What do you do if your mom’s on crack, the father is in prison, and your little sister is crying because she’s cold and hungry?” he said. “You get it the best way you know how.”

RELATED: New Haven divided by growing income disparity

Joe said he has even known youths who live in successful two-parent homes but sell drugs and gang bang for recreation. “These kids don’t have to be in the hood, but they want it now; it’s like recreation for them,” he said.

“They don’t want allowance money from their parents, they want big money; robbing and pulling the trigger becomes their instant gratification,” he said.

Youth, “can’t be in certain places being a sheep where you know they’re wolves,” he said. “You’re setting yourself up for a fatal. Kids can’t be out here flashing money because others are hungry and will pull the trigger for it and not even think about it.”

New Haven Assistant Police Chief Archie Generoso said illegally possessed guns in the city come from a number of different sources.

Some come from gun shows down South where someone can legally purchase half a dozen guns and sell them on the streets.

Other guns are stolen during burglaries in the city or the surrounding suburbs.

“Unfortunately some people think that securing a gun is putting it under a mattress,” Generoso said. “Then it gets into the hands of some very dangerous people after its sold or traded for drugs.”

Another way police have seen guns get onto the streets is after a legally possessed weapon is sold by someone the owner trusts, oftentimes without their knowledge.

Generoso said police had one case where a gun seized by police was traced back to an elderly man who had been in a convalescent home for 10 years.

Guns on the inner-city streets

National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers former Chairman Shafiq Abdussabur has worked on strategies aimed at reducing gun violence in New Haven for almost two decades.

Abdussabur said a comprehensive look at urban gun violence is key.

“We need to create a 10-year comprehensive crime reduction blueprint, designed to reduce total crime with a focus on gun violence and domestic violence,” said Abdussabur, who retired as chairman this month.

Abdussabur said part of that design would be the establishment and implementation of educational and training workshops within urban areas for individual and family accountability.

“This would focus particularly on the populations most directly impacted by gun crimes,” said Abdussabur, who also is a city police officer.

“We have to create an emergency economic urban development plan that includes creating multiple bridges for high school students that lead to economically sound careers and focuses on sustainable job creation for black males who are deemed as high-risk perpetrators and victims of gun violence,” he said.

But Joe said part of solving the problem is first stemming the tide of guns.

He maintained some of the guns used to commit homicides in New Haven are stolen from U.S. National Guard armories and brought here, which law enforcement officials said is highly unlikely.

Connecticut National Guard Public Affairs Officer Col. John Wiltse said there are standards and required federal procedures in place throughout the United States regarding arms.

“We have extreme accountability procedures when it comes to assigning arms and arms procedures. I’m not aware of any loss of arms within our organization,” said Wiltse.

“I can’t get into the details about our security systems, but it’s extremely unlikely or routine. There are multiple layers of security and accountability measures on a regular bases,” he said. “Obtaining arms from the National Guard is one of the most difficult ways to obtain arms, considering other ways that a criminal can obtain arms in the United States.”

Daniel Curtin, media spokesman for the FBI in Connecticut, said the FBI is unaware of any type of breach of security at any military National Guard installations in Connecticut.

“The weapons we’re seeing on the streets that are committing violent crimes are almost exclusively hand guns,” said Curtin.

Yet, last December in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a high-powered military style rifle came up missing from a local National Guard Armory.

According to NewChannel5.com, the National Guard filed a report with Murfreesboro police reporting a missing Colt Defense M4 Carbine rifle. Authorities said they’re extremely concerned that the weapon might be out on the streets, the website said.

Last month Elliot Perez, 28, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty in federal court in Hartford to multiple offenses related to his theft of 111 firearms from the Smith & Wesson manufacturing plant in Springfield, Mass. Perez was a truck driver for a private company and was at the plant in 2012 for pick up when the guns were stolen, federal authorities said.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Deirdre M. Daly previously said in a statement regarding the theft of the firearms, “This defendant is responsible for stealing over 100 illegal firearms and putting some of them directly into the hands of criminals.” Daly said. There is nothing more important to our mission than keeping illegal guns off the streets, said Daly.

Joe said he has also witnessed professional white men dropping off guns in the black community in exchange for drugs.

According to Joe, there also are men who are cowards, who use kids as contract killers.

“If you tell a 14- or 15-year-old you’ll give them $5,000 for a body, he’s thinking about how good he can eat, buying clothes and feeding his family,” Joe said.

“A lot of grown men are big-ass cowards out here; they’re using young kids for their dirty work. None of this gun violence would be going on if the men in the community would stand up,” said Joe.

But New Haven police detective Sgt. Al Vazquez said, “I can’t remember a case where we’ve had a contract hit. What we’ve often seen is a person in a gang getting an order to shoot somebody, but that’s not necessary a contract hit.”

“Contract killers mean someone is getting paid to take someone out, it’s not really that. It’s more of being in a gang or group and protecting the interest of the group which results in a homicide,” he said.

Vazquez said the department has had one or two cases where someone allegedly had a bounty on someone’s head.

“We’ve made arrest in those cases, but we never were able to establish that it was a bounty placed on someone else,” he said.

Generoso said some people don’t place stock in gun buyback programs, but they can be effective. Oftentimes, the people turning in guns simply want them out of the house, but don’t know what to do with them.

Those guns that are sitting around unsecured may otherwise end up in the hands of a violent criminal after being stolen during a burglary, he said.

Community service and re-entry

Part of the violence issue, Joe said, is the number of parolees who return to the city with nothing to do. As a former prison inmate, he said he was disappointed with city services for felons who return here. About 50 to 100 ex-offenders are dropped off in the city each month, Mayor Toni Harp has said. The city recently relaunched its prison re-entry program, dubbing it “Project Fresh Start.”

Joe said he had a potentially deadly experience after being released from prison.

“A dude tried to rob me and I walked away from him. The way he had the gun on me, I could have taken it and killed him; I didn’t want to catch another case,” he said. “I was like, “Are you serious? So I let him live,”

“I went through all their programs and it’s not like services that actually help you find full-time employment.” said Joe, who spent eight years behind bars.

“We need transitional services and assistance of how to transition back into society,” Joe said. “When I got out, it was a culture shock for me. I wouldn’t leave my room, I didn’t want to leave the house and I was nervous being around people.”

“I was forced to adjust to society. People have to understand there are a lot of mental things going on before you’re ready,” he said.

Deputy Mayor/Community Service Administrator Jackie James said the city will be listening to the re-entry population for ideas and suggestions.

“One of the things that we’ve talked about is what should we be providing to the re-entry population. I think every town and city wants to do something, but (is) not sure what to do,” James said.

“The voices and those who should be steering the charge are the people coming back from prison to tell us what they need,” she said.

James said the city will be sitting at the table with other service providers and stakeholders that are interested in addressing the needs of the re-entry population.

Fresh Start will work with inmates while they are still incarcerated and after they return to the city, to reduce recidivism, increase employment and access to education.

The Rev. William Mathis, program manager for Project Longevity, a city anti-gang violence program, said the service provider community and those who are transitioning have to meet before the actual release from prison.

“We who provide services have the greatest intention of providing the best support for their transition. We don’t always take into full account the cultural shock and the difficulties of socially adjusting to a different environment as well as them being a different person,” said Mathis, a former assistant state’s attorney in Baltimore.

Mathis said, “They’re not going to be the same person or know the same places when they return; it’s just not true.” he said.

Register reporter Rich Scinto contributed to this story. Call Community Engagement Editor Shahid Abdul-Karim at 203 789-5614. Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with New Haven Register editors at AskTheRegister.com