Waterbury Police Department announced that it’s terminated former officer James Hinkle after an internal affairs investigation found him to be in violation of the department’s policies. The incident that led to the investigation involved a ticket that Hinckle issued in mid-December. While the female driver involved didn’t file a complaint, the supervising sergeant on the scene did.
Just before the incident, Hinkle was directing traffic at an intersection where the lights were out. “While directing traffic, a vehicle proceeded through the intersection… Officer Hinkle provided commands to the vehicle to stop and struck the driver side of the vehicle with his hand and then the vehicle pulled over as instructed,” said the Waterbury Police department.
Next, Hinkle walks up to the vehicle, a Toyota RAV4, abandoning his station as the only officer at the intersection, and berates the driver. The driver can be heard on Hinkle’s bodycam attempting to apologize. The now-former officer continues yelling and screaming at the driver throughout the interaction.
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“It’s a bright yellow jacket in the middle of the street,” Hinkle yelled. “What don’t you understand? I have kids at home and you almost ran me over a week before Christmas. No, it’s not an accident, you’re just being irresponsible,” he said.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo told CT Insider that the video made him shudder. “It really rocks you to the core, it does me anyway,” he said. “I’ve been in this profession a very long time. That’s not the way we handle ourselves or conduct business.”
The video certainly paints a bad light on Hinkle but a closer look might explain his actions. It seems as though Officer (at the time) Hinkle was probably frightened by the fast-approaching and seemingly unexpected SUV.
As he was standing in front of a pickup truck just before the SUV approached it’s not shocking to think that both the driver and the officer failed to notice the other party. Most people in such a situation would likely react with some sort of surprise and shock as well. We hope Mr. Hinkle feels safer at home and far from the middle of intersections. At the same time, this looks great for accountability at the Waterbury Police department.