New Haven police have opened an internal investigation into an officer who drew both his Taser and handgun on a man who tried to shoplift $104 worth of clothing from a Walmart.
The 50-year-old West Haven man was not hurt, but he was arrested, according to a police report and body camera footage released Tuesday afternoon.
The department’s announcement that it is investigating Officer Christian Carfora’s decision to draw his weapons came at the height of national attention on policing — just two hours before a Minnesota jury found the officer who killed George Floyd guilty of murder and manslaughter — and local clergy and activists say it indicates that attention has not fundamentally changed the way officers police communities of color in Connecticut and across the country.