For people who like to bypass the news media entirely to get an idea of what’s going on, the Hartford Police Department website has been a source of frustration in past years because of their inconsistently updated announcements. The arrest blotter was nowhere to be found, and their press releases would be posted every few weeks, maybe. Well, now it seems they’ve gotten their act together because the arrest log is on their site (again?) and is, so far, updated every day. I think people should be informed of how many arrests occur in every town and city, so that the news reporting does not skew our sense of reality. As expected, many of the arrests are drug-related.
Of the arrests from yesterday, I think my favorite were panhandling and drinking in public. Is drinking alcohol in public really still a crime? Bad judgment, maybe, but criminal?