Here is what Connecticut has come to.

Last week a career criminal from New Haven wanted on a federal warrant for robbery and gun crime was cornered by police at a car wash just over the city line in West Haven. He pulled out a stolen gun and shot at the many officers trying to arrest him. Three shot back and killed him.

Whereupon New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobsen publicly and repeatedly expressed condolences to the career criminal's family "on behalf of the city." The mayor even met the family at a hospital to express the condolences before doing it again at a press conference this week when the state inspector general issued a preliminary report and released body camera video vindicating the officers.

Even so, the career criminal's daughter and about 50 others protested outside New Haven police headquarters.

No city residents protested the career criminal's life of crime or his attempt to kill the police.

Mayor Elicker and Chief Jacobsen aren't stupid. In repeatedly expressing condolences they were recognizing New Haven's political and social environment — full of poverty, despair, ignorance, disrespect for law, and resentment of authority, an environment in which crime is more easily excused as a way of life, the more so now that the political party that poses as the friend of the oppressed keeps making their lives harder with high inflation and illegal immigration. (The oppressed haven't figured it out yet.)

But how smart is Connecticut when city officials feel obliged to make excuses for basic law and order? Will the awful political and social environment of the cities ever induce state government to try to change it? Or are the cities already fulfilling state government's real objective for them — to maintain them as concentration camps for the poor and dysfunctional and income streams for the government class ministering to them?

That's the implication of the recent trouble with state government's Social Equity Council, the agency established to license marijuana cultivators and retailers and distribute to distressed areas — mainly cities — the revenue raised from license sales.

In response to complaints that the council has been arbitrary and disorganized, Gov. Ned Lamont froze the council's money pending a review by state Comptroller Sean Scanlan. This week the comptroller's review concluded that the council needs clearer criteria for awarding licenses and disbursing funds to help distressed areas. The General Assembly may act on the comptroller's review next year.

Since the Social Equity Council is all just petty political patronage, it won't do anything for distressed areas. Giving money to a few politically connected churches and social-service organizations won't address the big problems of the cities, problems that are major responsibilities of state government. State government knows very well what those problems are and how it is failing to alleviate them.

They are all results of generational poverty caused by government policy.

Most city children have only one parent, if that. Few have fathers in their lives. The incentives of the welfare system have made fathers seem unnecessary, at least financially, though a healthy and stable home life that avoids child neglect is exceedingly difficult without them.

Most city children don't learn much in school. Little discipline is permitted. Many kids learn mainly that they will be promoted from grade to grade and given a high school diploma without having to learn anything. Indeed, they are promoted and graduated even if they are chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism in Connecticut is worst in New Haven's schools, affecting 37.5% of students. Their parents, such as they are, can't or won't see that they get to school and take education seriously, but many get welfare benefits anyway.

As a result many kids reach adulthood uneducated, demoralized, and qualified only for menial work, drug dealing or other crime, or more welfare.

After decades of this it must be assumed that state government actually intends the result of its policies, horrible as the result is: the manufacture of generational poverty. Yet now state government claims to be pursuing "social equity."

Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. He can be reached at CPowell@cox.net.