This past week a young child died after he was struck by a vehicle. The news reports have been inconsistent and inaccurate by misreporting the child’s age. Several reports have instantly villainized the motor vehicle driver and have framed him as a “coward” in the same way that the person who evaded responsibility in the famous Park Street hit-and-run had been, despite the fact that this young adult turned himself in to police hours after the incident. I am reminded of an article I wrote over a year ago about how evading responsibility in such instances is not something that Hartford residents have a monopoly on, and how most of these drivers seem to do the right thing once they get over the initial shock and fear. Poor reporting does not help justice, nor does it paint an accurate picture for news consumers, many of whom are willing to pass judgment without relying on factual information. In reports, the area where the accident occurred was described as a road. At one time a road did go through the park; however, several years ago, the thru-street was removed. It is far more accurate to describe this section of pavement as a driveway, as it leads to a parking lot. It’s true that “Pope Park Drive” is listed on Google Maps, but as is necessary to remind people, Google Maps is often incorrect. The inability to accurately describe a place shows a disconnect with that area. This disconnect is seen again in reader comments left on the articles.
Here are a few gems from the comment section on WTNH:
I couldnt see the person hanging around after that. We are talking pope park in Hartford. That place is full of thugs and gangbangers. Best bet was what he did,Go to the PD. otherwise they would of attacked him. These people are into street justice..
And another:
If there were no roads through these parks, how would the police and ambulances get to all the Thursday afternoon “family gatherings” where someone OD’s or someone gets stabbed, beaten, or shot?
And another:
Pope Park should be closed, Its full of thugs and Dealers.
and:
Glad to see the Latin Kings still breeding new recruits. Close that park – Its nothing but trouble since the South End was taken over.
From the Courant, there were just too many shining examples of human wisdom and compassion to choose from, but here are a select few:
Hartford is a cesspool, and the behavior of all parties – defendant and family of the victim – proves it.
Another person writes:
Hartford sure is one heck of a nice American City and State Capitol isn’t it!
Eager to see the cesspool, thugs, dealers, and gangbangers, I took a stroll down to Pope Park earlier today. A total disappointment. Not a single person offered me drugs. Nobody flashed a gang sign. I looked high and low for thugs. I checked out a playground —
— but there were no thugs, just children, playing. Maybe the dealers and gangbangers would be down on the field, so I took a peek —
— no dealers and gangbangers there either, just boys warming up for a game of baseball. Could those brilliant anonymous commenters all be wrong? Might there be no thugs in the park? I decided to check one last place: the parking lot:
Nothing! What I did see was a memorial set up for the child who died. From this angle, you can see the police tape, as well as the proximity of benches to the entrance and parking lot. You can see that this is more like a driveway than a street.
The only thing close to a cesspool, actually, was the really long grass that looks overdue for mowing, some graffiti, and the remains of vandalized portapotties. These same conditions are present in various parks both inside and outside of Hartford.
But don’t let facts cloud your ability to pass judgment.
Note: I have been to Pope Park at night, in late afternoon, during the week, and in the middle of a blizzard. Aside from someone riding a quad through the field a couple summers ago, I really can not say I have witnessed a greater degree of criminal activity there than any place else in Hartford.
Luis Mendez
Thank you for this article. I will be posting it to Facebook and Twitter. Oh oh, the pics of Pope Park are great. They make me wish to be home. Keep it up.
Kerri Provost
Thanks for the comment! There are some beautiful trees in bloom there right now.
lobonick
another superior analysis.. you are on fire.. i would make a couple of points concerning pope park..
1) one must see pope park in full bloom to truly appreciate it. by full bloom, i mean with cars parked all along the side of the park, and the parking lot full. this is the case during the summer. some border line drag racing activities going along the side of the park.
2)also the term “thug and gangbanger” really is very open to interpretation. the writer who made the comment section related to the pope park tragedy was mostly likely referring people of color in his “thug and gangbanger” analysis. in fact, it is really just young people hanging out. the same thing happens in all towns across america. there are young people hanging out. small town. big town. anywhere. due to hartford’s urban environment, “young people hanging out” becomes “thug and gangbanger.” the initial writer’s definition of “thug and gangbanger” can be translated to any young person in an urban environment.
Kerri Provost
Absolutely agree on both counts. #2 — such terms are just thinly veiled racism. If you notice, a lot of the comments on these sites contain phrases like “these people.” We all know what that means.
As for #1 — the speeding throughout residential areas is really frustrating. On Wednesday night there is a meeting at the North End Senior Center about quality of life issues. We need to keep asking for speedbumps and/or speeding enforcement everywhere.
Anne
I think the Courant should NOT be allowing comments such as these on their site. It cheapens and disgraces the newspaper.
Richard
Thanks for this article. Our hearts go out to the family of the young child who was killed.
We go for a picnic quite often in the park and never yet met any thugs, dealers or gangbangers. A walk up the hill and through the park is one of our most enjoyable Sunday afternoon strolls and we like you go there in all types of weather. We have bench sat, watched the soccer game, attended Hartbeat plays, and just hung out and no one has ever bothered us. Oh and by the way, we love to sit way up on the western hill at the old basket ball courts and no one person has ever offered us some good smoke or tried to steal our pocketbook.
Tom
I biked by Colt Park one weekend afternoon last fall and the street was jammed with young Hispanic people showing up for a soccer game or picnic or something. If you firmly believe that all Hispanic men from 15-55 are hardened criminals, you would have been convinced you were in the middle of a gang convention. If you think Hispanics like to play and watch soccer, and not every guy who works on his car is a murderer, and noted how many families with young kids there were there, you saw a community outing.
Of course, it may have been a little of both. Just like an afternoon at a swanky country club in Fairfield County is likely to be part golf outing, part felony insider trading conspiracy. At least the soccer players didn’t almost topple the economy.
Clif
What have we become when we allow our hate of place to overwhelm our capacity for compassion? It is not natural. Weep for a family, but pity for hearts frozen by spite, misled by prejudice, & absent of the cultural wealth the rest of us enjoy every day that we are here.