3 Asst. Chiefs Sworn In

Three lieutenants who built their careers within the New Haven Police Department officially became the city’s new assistant chiefs on Friday afternoon.

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes selected Renee Dominguez, Karl Jacobson, and Herbert Sharp for the post in early July after Mayor Toni Harp tapped him as her choice to serve as next chief of the police department. The new assistant chiefs received the promotions at a ceremony Friday at the Yale University Art Gallery.

Reyes, Dominguez, Jacobson, and Sharp now comprise an entirely new leadership for the police force after a wave of recent retirements. All four of the new top cops come from the NHPD — a fact that Mayor Harp and Police Commission Chairman Anthony Dawson emphasized in their remarks during the ceremony.

“They are homegrown,” Dawson said, adding that he has high expectations for the assistant chiefs because they know the city and the department well.

“That each of you is being promoted from within the New Haven Police Department speaks to the talent within this department,” Harp said.

Renee Dominguez

Dominguez said she dreamed of being a police officer since she was 7 years old. Right out of college, she worked for two years in Newtown’s police force, then moved to New Haven.

She recalled that when she first transferred to New Haven, she was assigned to walk a beat in Newhallville, where she lives now.

“That community will forever be my home,” she said. ​“I am grateful to the community who always supported my efforts to make it a better place through many of our collaborations.”

Dominguez has worked in the police department’s K9 unit, and has served as district manager of Westville, Fair Haven, and Newhallville. Before her appointment to assistant chief, Dominguez was the officer In charge of family services.

Reyes praised Dominguez for ​“making sure that we as a department are taking care of the men and women who serve this community” by prioritizing wellness for officers in the department.

Reyes also recognized her success as a female police officer in a department of mostly men. ​“She is not only a role model for young women in a profession dominated by men, she is also a role model for those inspired to be great cops and great human beings,” he said.

“I come from a long line of strong, stubborn women who have given me the tools to succeed in this profession,” Dominguez said as she thanked her family.

As assistant chief, she will be in charge of the patrol division. In her new role, she said, she hopes to inspire officers to ​“love the job as much as I do.”

Karl Jacobson

After years of leading Project Longevity, a program tackling gang and gun violence in conjunction with federal and state authorities, Jacobson will lead New Haven’s Investigative Services Division as an assistant chief.

Programs like Project Longevity haven’t been as successful in other cities, Reyes said, suggesting that the New Haven project has thrived partly due to Jacobson’s leadership.

“He works in a division that traditionally would be very distant from the community, a division that in our past has caused a divide in the community, has disproportionately targeted communities,” Reyes said. ​“And yet somehow he manages to achieve tremendous results in what he does, through collaboration, hard work, and more importantly, uniting the community.”

Jacobson, who has also held leadership roles in the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Shooting Task Force, and Narcotics Unit, spoke at the ceremony about a young man he met through his work in Project Longevity.

He and his partner sat down at Friendly’s with the man, who ​“we were hoping would go to college,”

“We got him a sundae and a cheeseburger,” he said.

Cops arrested the same man for a shooting two days later, disappointing Jacobson. The man recently got out of prison. ​“One of the first people he called was myself,” Jacobson said. ​“And that’s why we do this.”

He said that a top priority of his would be to repair lines of trust between officers and community members.

“Today, when we arrive at an incident, not everyone feels safe, and we need to change this as a police department,” he said.

Herbert Sharp

Sharp received his training as a New Haven cop, and has remained in the department for 23 years.

Reyes spoke of working the night shift with Sharp when the two of them first became lieutenants, calling him a ​“friend” and ​“confidante.”

Reyes added that when Sharp became district manager of Newhallville six years ago, ​“he distinguished himself for his passion and his commitment to improving the quality of life for the residents of Newhallville.”

In turn, Sharp expressed admiration for Reyes. ​“I love the fact that I’m working for you,” he told the chief, adding that Reyes ​“knows exactly when to follow and exactly when to lead.”

As assistant chief, Sharp will be in charge of administration, including training, recruitment, and internal affairs. As the department addresses a recent outflux of officers, Sharp said he hopes to recruit officers who ​“have not the priority of pay but the priority of people.”

He added that he is excited to lead internal affairs. ​“That’s the moral compass of our department.”

During the ceremony, Chief Reyes expressed confidence in Dominguez, Jacobson, and Sharp.

“We lead with integrity, we lead with honesty, and we lead with humility,” Reyes said. ​“That’s what these three individuals share in common.”