Thomas Breen Photo
Chief Campbell at a police promotion ceremony Thursday night, surrounded by assistant chiefs who are also looking for new jobs.
Anthony Campbell is retiring, thrusting onto Mayor Toni Harp a politically volatile decision to make about who should next lead the police department.
Campbell Friday unleashed a parting shot at city lawmakers who he said “don’t respect” the work he and other top cops are doing and are driving them out of the department.
Campbell, who oversaw the department at a time when violent crime reached historic lows, has put in papers to retire as of March 29 after 21 years as a city cop.
He said he’s taking a position as an inspector with the New Haven state’s attorney’s office, a position for which a number of New Haven cops were vying as an exodus continues at the NHPD.
Assistant Chief Otoniel Reyes will step in as interim chief, according to Mayor Toni Harp
“It’s a bittersweet feeling. I’m excited to work with [New Haven State’s Attorney] Pat Griffin at the state’s attorney office and bring a better sense of collaboration with the community,” Campbell said in an interview.
“On the other hand, I’m leaving behind my police family. They’ve been there when I got hurt and helped support me through recovery. They’ve been there when my family had medical issues. They’ve been there when I climbed the ladder to become chief. It’s hard to leave members of your family behind.”
In an interview, Campbell said he’s leaving for the same reason that so many other New Haven cops are leaving: Uncertainty about the future of medical insurance coverage.
Even though the chief and assistant chiefs are not members of the police union, they receive the same medical benefits that other cops do under a union contract. The future of those benefits is uncertain.
“I’ve made it clear to everyone from the mayor to the Board of Alders that I will never allow the city to take my medical benefits,” Campbell said.
In a letter to the rank and file Friday afternoon, Campbell called it “a blessing and an honor to serve with you and serve you. I will be praying for each of you and for this great city as I have for the last 21 years.”
Exodus
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Campbell’s wife Stephanie pins his badge at the 2017 chief’s swearing in at City Hall.
Campbell, the 45-year-old son of a Riker’s Island corrections officer, led the department at a time of transition. Concerns over further givebacks on health care, combined with offers from suburban departments that pay higher wages and better benefits for less stressful work, have led to the mass departures of cops over the past year. The cops have been working without a union contract for three years. The contract is currently in binding arbitration, with the city arguing that it lacks the money to pay cops more and that it needs some benefits givebacks like charging more for retiree families’ health insurance.
Forty-nine cops retired or resigned in 2018, according to Campbell. Ten have so far this year. Thirty-nine more are eligible to leave, and many are looking.
In his tenure, Campbell, a calm and personable Yale Divinity School graduate, lowered the temperature and drama at 1 Union Ave. after the contentious tenure of his predecessor, Dean Esserman, who promoted new approaches sometimes sidetracked by explosive personality conflicts. Esserman resigned in September 2016. Campbell stepped in as acting chief, then was sworn in as New Haven’s 17th permanent chief in June 2017.
Campbell did have his share of controversies to address, including over falsified background checks for new officers. He was able to depersonalize conflicts and deal respectfully with all factions of the police department as well as with the community. He also oversaw the introduction of body cameras for most uniformed officers.
Mayor Toni Harp called Campbell’s tenure a success.
“While he was chief, we had the lowest violent crime in the history of our city. He’s done a great job. We’re sorry to see him go,” Harp said.
“It’s been such an honor to work for Mayor Harp,” Campbell said, for his part.
Harp noted that Campbell was almost killed earlier in his career when a suspect driving away from cops hit him and thrust him into the air. “Some people would have just retired then with disability. He came back to work. He’s been a great chief. We are grateful that he has spent the time with us,” Harp said. Campbell, a professed believer in mercy and second chances, ended up asking a judge to give his almost-killer leniency. (Read about that here.)
Showdown With Alders
Marekshia Ricks Photo
The new boss, at least for a while: Otoniel Reyes.
Harp said she knew for a while that Campbell felt he needed to leave for financial reasons, and that assistant chiefs have also been applying for jobs with other law-enforcement agencies. She said she met with leaders of the Board of Alders to discuss protecting police executive health benefits from changes.
“The feedback was not positive,” Harp said.
Chief Campbell described that discussion, which took place two weeks ago, as a turning point for him.
He said he told alder leaders at that meeting that if the city doesn’t move the chief and assistant chiefs into an executive management health plan, they will all look to leave. That no one with more than 11 years experience would be left to run the department. That New Haven could end up like Hartford, needing to call in the state police because the local department became dysfunctional.
“All my staff has been applying because they do not want to lose their medical,” Campbell said he told the group. “You’re forcing us into a position where we have to protect us and our families.”
He quoted Alder Dolores Colon as responding: “If you get an offer, you guys should take it. If we have to bring in the state police and have people with 11 years leading us, so be it.”
Another attendee at the meeting confirmed Friday that Colon made that comment.
“That says to me that the hard work that I and the men and women have been doing to get crime down to the level, that it is is just not respected,” Campbell said in the interview Friday. “I can’t risk my medical and the things that I have worked hard for for 21 years to be taken by people who made it clear that they don’t respect the work that we do. I don’t want to work for people who do not respect what I do and the sacrifices that I and my family have made.
“So when this opportunity opened up, I’m doing exactly what the alder told me to do.”
Colon could not be immediately reached for comment for this story.
Thomas Breen Photo
Tyisha Walker-Myers: That’s not how it went down.
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, who attended the meeting, disagreed with Campbell’s account. She called it “unfair” and “untrue” to blame the alders.
“It’s not because of that meeting that happened two weeks ago,” Walker-Myers said in a conversation Friday. “[The issue] was presented. We had a conversation about it. People are still talking about it.”
“If Chief Campbell decided to go, he made a decision that there is a better opportunity for him,” Walker-Myers said.
Walker-Myers said that everyone left the meeting with the clear understanding that leadership would continue discussing the issue, that it was still “open.” She said she personally assured the chief afterwards that “we were still discussing it.”
“I do wish him well,” Walker-Myers added. “I don’t think it’s because of the meeting.”
On Friday, incoming police union President Florencio Cotto Jr. said he hopes that “with Chief Campbell deciding to retire, the city administration realizes that with the slashing of benefits and the uncertainty of binding arbitration, more will follow.”
Who’s Next
If the last chief transition is any guide, Mayor Harp and the police commission face a politically fraught process of selecting Campbell’s successor, in an election year. The last transition saw public protests among different groups in town supporting different candidates.
Among the potential successors are the assistant chiefs: Luiz Casanova, Otoniel Reyes, Racheal Cain, and Herb Johnson. Several of them are known also to have been seeking employment with other departments.
She said that unlike last time she may not conduct a national search for a successor: “I do believe that we have some folks inside who could do the job. I’d like to give them a chance before I do a national search. I’ll work with the chief administrative officer and the staff to do interviews. If we’re satisfied that we can have someone from inside who can do the job, that will be our best bet.”
I believe we will now have our first Hispanic police chief. A historic moment for New Haven and a window into the future.