It has been a somber week in Connecticut. Hartford Police officer Bobby Garten was killed when a car crashed into the cruiser he was a passenger in. Investigators say the teen driver who hit him had fled a police stop, ran two red lights and as speeding in an unregistered vehicle.

Garten was the third police officer in our state to die in the past year, following the ambush killings of Bristol Police Lt. Dustin Demonte and Sergeant Alex Hamzy in October. The police community, or family was still grieving their loss when Garten lost his life.

Retired Hartford Police deputy chief Neville Brooks has mourned the deaths of too many officers during his long career and he joins me this Sunday on This Week in Connecticut to talk about what law enforcement goes through, the help available and how they continue to protect and serve. Brooks will also talk about his experience with the Garten family.

I’ve been friends with Neville for more than 25 years, and his knowledge about the police world is deep. He has appeared on WTNH before, for sad occasions to help our viewers understand law enforcement tragedies which is why these photos show his very serious and professional side. I’m sharing an old pic of Neville and my son, from when Julian was going through a Batman phase. We ran into then Chief Brooks at Adriaen’s Landing and my son was blown away that Neville wore a Batman T-shirt under his HPD uniform.

Tune in Sunday morning at 10 on WTNH for This Week in Connecticut. Also on the program: New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie.