Middletown is considering changes to city hall departments. What will it mean for residents?
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The front entrance to Middletown City Hall, at 245 deKoven DriveCassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media
The goal is two-fold, Mayor Ben Florsheim said.
“It’s going to make city operations more efficient, but it’s also going to make city operations more tailored to the needs of the community,” he said.
The plan calls for eliminating the POCD and parking offices, and creating a Department of Land Use and separate Department of Economic and Community Development.
The Parking Department will be incorporated into the new DECD.
The sight of an officer holding his knee on George Floyd s neck for more than nine minutes until he died from asphyxiation triggered nationwide protests in 2020.
It wasn t the first time there was national outrage about a Black American being killed by police (see: Stephon Clark, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, the list goes on).
But it
was the first time that the talk of police reform moved beyond incremental steps to include widespread, mainstreamdiscussions about foundational change.
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Suddenly, officials were talking about ideas once considered beyond the pale like defunding police departments and ending qualified immunity for officers.