nothin Academy Connects Cops With Clergy | New Haven Independent

Academy Connects Cops With Clergy

Markeshia Ricks Photo

Mary Ransome discovered that cops aren’t always in the wrong when they shoot someone.

Ransome, a pastor at Greater Mount Carmel Pentecostal Church, picked up that lesson, among others, after attending a special three-day version of the New Haven Citizens Academy set aside for clergy. The academy finished up on Wednesday afternoon with a ceremony at the police training academy on Sherman Parkway.

After three days of classes and opportunities to ask questions of officers, including Chief Dean Esserman, Ransome said she has a deeper respect for police officers and the nature of their work.

My eyes have been opened to a lot of things,” said Ransome (pictured at left). The class on the use of deadly force let me know that the media is not always right, and that police officers receive extensive training on when to shoot and not to shoot.”

Ransome along with about 15 other spiritual leaders of varying religious denominations received a certificate of completion and a handshake from the chief at Wednesday’s ceremony. The clergy members learned about everything from how the juvenile justice system works to how officer are trained to use deadly force, to when they use it. The police started the citizens academy 15 years ago to teach civilians about crime prevention and help them understand how the department functions, but this was only the second academy held specifically for clergy.

Esserman said hosting an academy just for clergy grew out of a monthly lunch he and district managers have with area spiritual leaders that he started nearly three years.

The real groundwork of community policing comes from connecting with community leaders,” he said.

Father Jordan Lenaghan, Catholic chaplain for Quinnipiac University (pictured with Chief Esserman), said he came to the academy looking for strategies to assist students who often spend time hanging out in New Haven and occasionally find themselves interacting with the police as crime victims. But he said he came away with a lot more.

This was an incredible experience,” he said. I was struck by the professionalism of the officers and the relevance of the material and the willingness to have dialogue about tough, sensitive questions.”

One participant said she lived in Chicago where the police were rotten,” and she carried that distrust with her when she came to New Haven.

But you’ve got some good guys who are police officers and I commend you,” she said to Esserman. Keep up the good work.”

Ransome said she leaves the program believing that Esserman and many of the officers genuinely care about the communities they where they work.

The chief said he has a heart for this community, this work,” she said. And I believe that.”

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