06/07/2026
It’s embarrassing to admit but my daughter wanted to be a cop. She’s a rebel but looks up to her grandfather. Me and him aren’t fans of each other but iiwii. Maybe I do have an attitude, maybe it’s cause he was also a CO… but that’s a conversation for another day. Middle school kids have seen the now-viral video. She now wants to become a social worker. Kids were sharing the video with each other and they all have strong opinions. One of them being, “why did he shoot him so many times?”
The Hartford Police Union’s latest memo reads less like a labor organization’s statement and more like the script for a political campaign ad.
According to the union, firing Officer Joseph Magnano for a “lawful” use of force means “dark times are coming” for Hartford. Recruits will supposedly flee. Officers will hesitate. Criminals will somehow sense weakness. Society, apparently, teeters on the brink.
That’s quite a lot to blame on one personnel decision.
But let’s unpack what’s actually being said.
The union isn’t merely arguing Magnano deserves due process.
They’re declaring his actions justified, portraying him as a victim, and warning that holding officers accountable will cause the collapse of public safety itself.
That’s an extraordinary claim.
Because if firing one officer after a controversial fatal shooting is enough to destroy an entire department, then perhaps the department’s problems run deeper than the union wants to admit.
The most revealing line may be the warning to parents:
“Do not let your sons or daughters become Hartford police officers.”
Think about that.
A union representing police officers is now publicly discouraging people from becoming police officers.
Not because of low pay.
Not because of unsafe working conditions.
But because one officer faced consequences.
That’s not a recruitment strategy.
That’s a tantrum.
And perhaps the most absurd part of all is the underlying message:
If an officer can be investigated, fired, or charged after a fatal shooting, then nobody will want the job.
Really?
The overwhelming majority of officers go their entire careers without killing someone, without being fired, and without being criminally charged.
Holding one officer accountable for his own actions is not an attack on policing.
It’s called individual responsibility.
The same thing police officers expect from everyone else.
