New Haven Independent

“We have had more cases, but every complaint that comes in is getting a case number, even the ones that are sent to patrol,” Peterson told the Civilian Review Board on Thursday night in the chief’s conference room at 1 Union Ave.

Board members and top police officials received a copy of the most recent Civilian Review Board Coordinator’s report, compiled by Reginald Thomas, which lists brief descriptions of every open and closed case IA received in the last two years. Click here to download the latest report.

Both Thomas and Peterson offered the same explanations for the rise in complaints — that the system is working better.

In the past, the board has been criticized as so ineffective or quiet that people didn’t bother bringing complaints to it.

Serious allegations are investigated by internal affairs. Less serious allegations are often handed down to district managers, Peterson said, but for the first time, every complaint that is issued receives a complaint number and gets entered into an XL database. The new process for receiving complaints was one factor Peterson and Thomas said contributed to the increase in complaints.

Peterson said the new way of keeping track of complaints came from the “PERF” report, a document prepared by a panel of experts to overhaul the police department in the wake of a federal corruption investigation. The department followed PERF’s recommendations, Peterson said, “Because they are really good.”

The other factor: A series of public hearings following the corruption scandal put internal affairs under the spotlight, Peterson and Thomas said, which ultimately encouraged people to come forward with complaints.

“We went out there a lot with the Public Safety Committee, I personally went out there and talked with a lot of people,” Peterson said after the meeting. “And the Public Safety Committee was out soliciting business for us, which really helped.”

“Quality Control”

Chief of Police James Lewis said he also implemented a “quality control” exercise to monitor the complaint process. He said district managers will give a transient a few dollars to go and make a complaint, then see if the complaint went through, and if the officer was courteous. Lewis was careful to add he was not about to conduct a “witch hunt” to go after the bad apples.

“I want them to see this as a quality control effort. I don’t want them to think this is a disciplinary action, this is a training exercise” Lewis said.

Lewis said he plans to unveil a new organizational chart for the department Friday morning at the Board of Police Commissioners meeting. If that structure is accepted by the commission, nine of the PERF recommendations will have been met, with the rest following a time line that “may become a moving target,” Lewis said.