Dear Meriden, Connecticut
You are a microcosm of everything wrong with this country. But you can fix it.
Dear Meriden,
It’s been a week, huh?
I know one of your police officers punched a civilian in the face on December 8th, but since the dashcam footage recently went viral on X, I’m sure you’ve received a deluge of phone calls and negative social media comments.
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this two-minute summary, but be prepared—it’s a blood boiler. (no, the dog wasn’t harmed)
Of course, had Mr. Brocuglio been black or suffered from gender dysphoria, this story would have been national headline material for weeks, and Ganter would have been fired and placed squarely under the jail for his “white rage.”
Fortunately for Ganter, Brocuglio’s skin was too light for “social justice,” as of now, he’s only had his wrist slapped.
According to a press release, an internal affairs investigation found Ganter had “violated the department's policy” and was charged with 3rd-degree assault.
(b) Assault in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor and any person found guilty under subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one year which may not be suspended or reduced.
Ganter’s punishment? A 5-day suspension without pay, and he’s required to take de-escalation classes for three years.
I called your police department’s public relations team to clarify whether Ganter would be subject to a criminal disposition the same way we average folk would, but nobody returned my call as of this posting.
I won’t, Frank.
I also called your Thomas Edison Middle School to see if they planned to retain Ganter as a resource officer. They hung up on me. Twice.
And your school still has this on the front page of their website, so I’m not sure how much reason to expect.
Thats OK, though, after pulling up an archived image of the MPD school resource officer assignments, both Edison and Ganter were recently removed.
Like many American cities, Meriden exemplifies everything wrong with this country in 3 major ways. But you can fix it.
#1 Abuse of Power
First, your officer either can’t read or thinks John Q. Public is an idiot.
As Brocuglio correctly points out, the sign says ‘stop here on red,’ not ‘no turn on red.’
But my guess is there wasn’t a comprehension issue here.
I’ve often spaced out in situations like this, where the typical procedure is to give a standard “my bad” wave and be on my way.
But Ganter’s ego wasn’t letting things slide by so easily.
Instead, he lied about the sign, flashed his badge, took pictures of his license plates, threatened to have him arrested, and punched him in the face, all while jamming traffic further.
Still, Ganter could have gone home, simmered down, and owned his mistake.
Instead, he lies to the Rocky Hill officer’s faces when they arrive at his home: “He’s saying I hit him?”
Only when the officer informed him the assault was on video did he admit he was wrong.
However, Ganter still asked if there was a way in which he could hold Brocuglio responsible for a “breach of peace.”
This guy has no business in uniform. It doesn’t look like he can pass a PT test anyway.
#2 Lack of Departmental Accountability
Check out these gangbangers flashing firearms about in broad daylight.
That piece in his right hand is an Ingram Mack 10, a fully automatic machine pistol, a weapon that a minimal number of Americans legally possess thanks to the insane amount of checks, fees, licenses, and waiting periods required to get one.
How can they so confidently host this ghetto show and tell? Because they know nobody is going to do anything about it.
The same can be said for Corporal Ganter. He was comfortable punching a civilian in the face in broad daylight at a busy intersection because he felt the rules didn’t apply to him.
And this isn’t the first time a Meriden police officer assaulted a civilian.
Your Police Department Has A Rap Sheet
In 2011, two Meriden Police officers, identified as “B. Sullivan #373” and “Donald Huston #410,” submitted a formal complaint to the department over the chief's failure to hold his son responsible for his actions.
The 8-page document outlines several occasions on and off duty when Officer Evan Cossette crossed the line, but nobody dared call out Chief Jeffry Cossette’s golden boy.
Apparently, only two officers had the integrity and courage to stand up, which put a target on their backs.
Eventually, the police brutality could no longer be ignored when Cossette shoved a handcuffed suspect into a holding cell, where he cracked his head open on a concrete bench, resulting in a hospital visit.
And guess who else was named in the report?
That’s right, old “Iron Mike” Ganter himself.
Get this: According to the report, Ganter also shoved a handcuffed suspect on another occasion, which initiated an internal investigation, and Ganter thought it was “not fair” that he was investigated while Cossette wasn’t.
The report also says a sergeant opined that Ganter had a “problem controlling his temper,” although that sergeant was said to play favorites.
While Evan Cossette was ultimately fired and locked up, accountability only came after their hands were forced.
I tried contacting the officers who did the right thing and made the complaint, but their phones were disconnected.
My guess is they moved to a better agency if the experience with your department didn’t turn them off to law enforcement altogether.
Two cops who tried to uphold your mission statement were punished for doing so, and now they’re gone.
Great job.
#3 Government Bureaucracy
But let’s be reasonable.
Perhaps these were isolated incidents. Nobody’s perfect, and I’m sure MPD officers have done great things over the years.
Maybe MPD brass would love to hire a team of Sullivans and Hustons, but they can’t afford it.
Police departments must pay to send recruits to the police academy, and it takes forever to get someone from the applicant pool to solo patrol. Indeed, replacing subpar officers’ easier said than done.
Thanks to the Defund The Police movement, you’re likely stuck in a perpetual balancing act between retaining staff and enforcing the standard outlined in your mission statement.
Sometimes, you have to take what you can get, and sometimes, that means taking federal funding when offered.
But we all know accepting these grants is a lot like accepting a free pack of cigarettes in the prison yard. You owe me.
That could mean enforcing DEI quotas or unconstitutional mandates as your city accepted 36,000,000 dollars from the American Rescue Act in 2021, and you took $35,000 for a “community policing” initiative, which leaves much to be desired.
How much of that was put towards improving your police ranks?
The Underlying Issue and Resolution
Of course, it's unfair to pick on Meriden as most law enforcement agencies have problems with abuses of power, lack of accountability, and government red tape.
But whether it’s a cop punching a motorist, forcing kids to wear masks, or unconstitutionally shutting down a business, it’s always us everyday Americans getting screwed.
You want us to support your thin blue line and donate to your lodge, yet you give us a ticket for “California Rolling,” a stop sign.
You want us to consider what you might be going through, yet can’t return the favor when a motorist is in a hurry.
It takes you 15 minutes to respond to a 911 call, yet you’ll haul us to jail for protecting ourselves.
Rather than doing the right thing, you worship a managerial and administrative way of life:
That's above my pay grade, I’m just doing my job, I’ll ignore police brutality and corruption because I want to get promoted someday.
Your police department’s core values say: “Polish the badge when no one is looking.”
Well, we are looking, and from what we can tell, badges #373 and #410 are among the few that are inspection-ready.
-GB
The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. -Dwight D. Eisenhower
This Weeks US Invasion Casualty: Jacqueline Vigil
Rest in peace, Jacqueline. I’m sorry you were murdered by someone who shouldn’t have been in the US to begin with.