Christopher Perrone’s daughter Maeve is helping him hold his new detective’s shield, and it’s hard to tell who’s prouder of whom.
Perrone was one of 20 city cops who were promoted to the rank of detective in a moving ceremony, full of pomp and the shout-outs of adoring friends and relatives, in the aldermanic chambers on Tuesday afternoon.
With these 20, who all were previously assigned to patrol duties, the NHPD will now have 51 detectives. The department is budgeted for 61, according to spokesman Officer Joe Avery, and there is an active list for further promotions to detective. Avery said Tuesday he wasn’t certain how many officers took the test. But speakers noted that these promotions, along with the previous ceremonies creating five new captains, 16 lieutenants, and seven sergeants over the past two months, reflect, the ongoing revitalization of the management and morale of the force.
Like Perrone, another newly minted detective Bertram Etienne, said he chose to become a detective, as opposed to taking the sergeant’s exam, because, “as an officer you often are involved in a case at the beginning, but then it’s turned over to the detective bureau.” As a detective, he said, he could see things all the way to their conclusion. It was also, he said, a way to be part of a larger team. Etienne, a one-time Independent “Cop of the Week,” is also a member of the New Haven Guardians, an African-American organization seeking to promote the advancement of black officers within the NHPD.
Perrone was one of two detectives (the other being Robert Criscuolo), who, in addition to their new badges, also received a commendation from the Connecticut Statwide Narcotics Task Force for their work as undercover officers in narcotics investigations since 2003.
According to Avery, many of the patrol officers promoted Tuesday were already functioning in an investigative capacity. The tests they take to earn the promotion is both oral and written and more than the sergeant’s exam, it emphasizes investigative skills, and has more legal aspects.
New Detective Wendy Barrett, shown here with her husband NHPD Officer Lloyd Barrett, who presented her badge, wasn’t thinking about investigative or legal skills, or the kinds of things that got her here today, like the departmental medal of honor she received in connection with a shooting on Fillmore Street in Fair Haven in 2005. After the ceremony she said the next to challenge was to decide where to get some good food.
Perrone’s family was on their way to Anthony’s Ocean View restaurant.
After two weeks of additional classroom training, the detectives will all be hitting the street. The 45 new recruits, who shortly will be starting the NHPD academy, will presumably be replacing the detectives on the beat.
Pretty nice for these new detectives, maybe they can investigate and figure out how the city can never run a fire department exam without screwing it up.
Here is a clue. Maybe its because the city waters down the entrance exams so thin, there is no way applicants can compete fairly on promotional exams.
Criminal Activity, endangering the lives of taxpayers and firefighters alike. Acting officers, some of those who actually failed promotional exams, are being placed in charge of fire companies where they are charged with leading other firefighters.
In the mean time, firefighters who took the only legit lieutenants exam and lieutenants who took the only legit Captains exam ever given can't get they're badges. This is the real crime.