The police department is working narcotics investigations with the feds and meeting weekly with Bridgeport cops to see if there are connections between crimes here and there, Chief Eugene Mascolo said.
Derby was hit with a rash of violence over the summer, specifically in the area of Hawkins, Cottage and Sixth streets.
The violence — two stabbings and a drive-by shooting that injured a bystander, coupled with an ambush shooting and a sidewalk killing last year — had residents on edge.
Mascolo said Tuesday Derby police have been meeting regularly with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the DEA to talk about crime in the area.
“They’ve helped us establish new relationships that will help us be more effective in Derby,” Mascolo said.
Mascolo said there are investigations underway in the area that could lead to prosecution in federal court, where crimes often carry heavier sentences for defendants found guilty.
Police are hoping to get more federal money through Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program of the U.S. Department of Justice. That money would fund Derby narcotics investigations, Mascolo said.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is a federal program used to combat gun and gang violence in the U.S.
Both this summer’s violence — and the shootings in the summer of 2009 — were gang related.
Stephan Coney, 19, was charged in connection to both stabbings. The arrest warrant application mentions the “Purple City Goons,” a fledgling street gang of area teens.
The people responsible for the 2009 shootings don’t call themselves a gang — but they’ve worked together for a long time doing crimes, Mascolo said.
The police department is also hoping to get federal money to add an officer to the department. Specifically, the police department is applying for “COPS MORE,” a federal grant that funds community policing initiatives.
Derby applied for the grant last year, but the money went to larger cities.
Derby police are also attending weekly briefings at the Bridgeport Police Department. Many of the violent crimes in Derby in the last year or so have Bridgeport connections, the chief said.
“Any town located next to a big city has an interesting in coordinating with the relevant big city. We’re right in the middle of Waterbury, New Haven and Bridgeport. Many of the things we deal with have connections.”
Meanwhile, Mascolo said Lt. Sal Frosceno is the police department liason to a Quality of Life Task Force that was unveiled in late June.
He’s been attending meetings of the Task Force at least once a week, the chief said.
The task force brings together building officials, the school district, the fire marshal’s office and other city workers to identify problems in Derby that can plant the seeds for criminal activity.
Of particular importance is housing, Mascolo said.
“People tend to think of Derby — the smallest city in the state at five square miles — as a quiet little town,” Mascolo said. “But because of the population density, some of the housing conditions and the socio-economic conditions here, it results in a disproportionate amount of crime for a town of our size.”
Photo gallery at the top of the page shows images from a shooting on Hawthorne Avenue last year.
