Aliyya Swaby Photo
The Board of Police Commissioners held a long-awaited review of Police Chief Dean Esserman’s public misconduct — but kicked out the public first, at his request.
The discussion took place at Tuesday night’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting at 1 Union Ave. The review ended without any public comments by the commission about the chief’s actions.
The commission invited city alders — who are not members of the commission — to make what was billed as a “presentation” in executive session, during which they echoed their statements in a Dec. 22 letter that critiqued Esserman’s “pattern of misbehavior” and asked he be “sanctioned.”
This meeting was the latest response to a Sept. 27 confrontation between Esserman (pictured at the public portion of Tuesday night’s meeting) and an elderly usher at the Yale-Army football game at the Yale Bowl. When the usher denied him entry without a ticket, Esserman yelled at the man, demanded he be removed from the premises and threatened to shut the game down.
Mayor Toni Harp formally reprimanded Esserman in an open letter Dec. 17. Though Esserman brought a version of the matter to Harp’s attention after it occurred, the mayor warned him that his behavior “cannot and will not be tolerated and any such future infraction will result in more severe consequences.”
Seven alders signed a letter sent to Harp several days after her reprimand. Twelve alders attended Tuesday night’s Police Commission meeting, though not all arrived in time for the presentation. Police Commission Chair Tony Dawson asked Esserman whether, by legal right, he would like to have the discussion “open or closed.” Esserman said he preferred to go into executive session. No one questioned the wisdom of the decision. Everyone except for Esserman, the alders, the commissioners, and Chief Administrative Officer Michael Carter left the room.
“It should have been public,” one alder said after the closed-door session. “I don’t know why they need to hide it.”
It was unclear whether in fact the 15-minute session involved a “presentation” of information, new or otherwise, by the alders, or simply a discussion rehashing comments that have been made repeatedly in public.
According to three participants in the closed-door session, Esserman repeated the apologies he has made publicly since the incident: That he had a “bad day,” that that was no excuse, that he was sorry, that he has learned from the experience. Dawson told the alders that the commission can discipline assistant chiefs and other cops, but only the mayor has jurisdiction over the chief. Newhallville Alder Delphine Clyburn urged the commissioners to look at other complaints against the chief, saying his pattern of misbehavior will cost taxpayers money.
“It’s a personnel matter,” Dawson (pictured) told the Independent afterward. He said that “any police officer being disciplined” has the choice to keep the meeting open or closed. Esserman chose closed. Dawson said the commission wanted to hear out the alders “to let them know we appreciate them as counterparts” and demonstrate that the department is holding itself accountable for any misconduct.
“The entire department got an earful today,” he said.
After being an agenda item, Esserman continued the bulk of the public meeting by giving a report of his own — detailing the progress the police department has made. He said that 25 rookies are preparing to start their walking beats around the city, soon to be followed by 35 others in March and 34 who graduate in June.
“That first year walking a beat is a fundamental way of building relationships,” he said. Esserman praised his officers for respecting and not arresting protesters during December’s series of rallies against police brutality.
Esserman with Alder Abby Roth after the meeting.
Esserman reiterated his hopes that New Haven cops will begin to ask for body cameras, digital cameras worn on the front of an officer’s uniform, and the need for them to be incorporated “slowly and deliberatively” instead of “imposed on the will of the department.”
And he explained the benefits of a tool called “Shot Spotter,” which can recognize the sound of a shot being fired and pinpoint its location in the city. Shot Spotter then sends the “notification to the walking beat officers on their cell phones with a map,” so they can respond immediately and follow up at the scene of the shooting, he said. After three incidents with multiple bullets shot in May, Shot Spotter allowed police to compare shells and determine that the same person was responsible for all three, Esserman reported.
Despite the report’s positive tone, Esserman hinted at the content of the closed-door session: “We are not mistake-free. I am the obvious example of it.”
Esserman had no comment to reporters about the executive session after it ended Tuesday night.
Paul Bass contributed reporting.
Ok OK we get it. People sometimes hate their bosses. Not that correlation equals causation but I'd be more concerned if crime was going up.