MORE DETAILS ON "UP IN SMOKE"

Although it might be difficult to obtain documents from the City of Hartford, it is totally a different story with the State of Connecticut.

Within minutes of requesting documents from the State of Connecticut regarding the records "destroyed" recently by the Hartford Police Department, I received what I requested via e-mail. The City has not provided any documents regarding the incinerated documents or any details as to specifically what was destroyed.

HPD sources are telling me that payroll records through 2008 were incinerated along with numerous other documents. In the attached request for permission to destroy the documents, the State of Connecticut specifically denied HPD permission to do that. HPD spokesperson Nancy Mulroy could not confirm what documents were destroyed.

In addition, in the request to destroy the records, both Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts and Mayor Pedro Segarra both signed the state's forms certifying that "No records listed, in our opinion, pertain to any pending case, claim or action".

It might be possible that Mayor Segarra had no knowledge of the "impending storm" when he signed off on May 2, 2011, but I'm not sure that the Chief and his staff can say the same.

Considering that one officer is already under arrest for payroll fraud, others might be implicated, an investigation is about to commence tomorrow and who knows where that will lead, it seems somewhat less than truthful that they could certify that "No records listed, in our opinion, pertain to any pending case, claim or action".

And still, the question needs to be asked, why the rush to burn documents that might prove helpful in the outcome of an investigation that is purported to be trying to get to the truth and maintain the "integrity" of HPD. Unless maybe we can't handle the "truth".

And again, the offer still stands that if Chief Roberts or HPD would like to provide the inventory of actual documents destroyed, I will gladly post them here.

Hartford Disposals From 2001