Standing outside the police headquarters Monday, two community activists warned Chief Dean Esserman that if he forces out Petisia Adger as assistant chief, he’ll destroy a key piece of community policing.
The press conference took place three days after it was reported that Esserman has asked Adger and the department’s other two assistant chiefs to step down. He praised their service but said he wants, as a new chief, to pick his own team. (Click here to read about that.)
Clifton Graves and Barbara Fair (pictured) rallied behind Adger, who grew up in city housing projects in Dixwell and went on to serve her community as a city cop for 20 years.
Graves, who ran for mayor last year, and Fair, a community activist, both supported Esserman’s arrival in town. They called on the chief to reconsider his request for Adger to retire.
Graves said Adger has a track record as a community-minded cop who helped link the community to the police department. He urged Esserman to keep her on the force.
“Why kick her to the curb?” Graves asked.
Graves and Fair noted that when Esserman took office, he pledged to revive community policing.
“If we’re serious about community policing,” Graves said, police should be rewarding cops like Adger, not getting rid of them.
The duo said they’d be requesting a meeting with the chief to discuss the matter. They said the chief should hear more community input before making a decision like this one.
While the event was originally billed as a “rally for community policing,” Graves clarified Monday that the event was not meant to be a “rally” but rather a press conference. It drew a half-dozen people to the steps of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
Sgt. Rich Miller, vice-president of the police union, showed up to announce that the union wants Adger to stay.
Adger grew up in the city, has strong relationships with the community, and is highly qualified in the field of policing, Miller said. “She is one of the most quality people we have.”
For a new chief to walk in and get rid of her would be “unfair” and “a disservice to the city,” he argued.
As assistant chief, Adger is not a member of any union. Assistant chiefs’ jobs are not protected by a contract, and there’s no language in the city charter designating the length of their terms (as there is for department heads), according to Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts.
The city would not need “just cause” to terminate an assistant chief, according to Victor Bolden, the city’s corporation counsel. The decisions to hire or fire an assistant police chief “ultimately rest with the New Haven’s Board of Police Commissioners, but are made in consultation with the Chief of Police,” Bolden added.
Esserman Friday explained his decision to remove his top three aides.
“I would like to pick my own team,” Esserman said. “I have taken the time over the last two months. I did not move hastily. I did not bring anyone from the Providence or New York force with me. Nor will I. But I would like to put my own team together for the new direction we’re moving in.”
Adger did not attend Monday’s press conference. Reached Sunday, said she knew nothing about the event and has no comment about her situation.
Fair said she has talked to Adger and “she’s not pleased with the way she was only offered to leave or [be] put out.”
Fair said Adger has helped her build trust in city cops. “It’s police officers like Petisia who opened my mind to recognize that there are actually some good officers in New Haven,” she said. Adger should be “the last person to [be] let go” on the police force.
Adger is the police department’s highest-ranking African-American and the first black woman to be named assistant chief in New Haven.
Fair and Graves said they’re fighting to save Adger’s job not because of race or gender, but because of Adger’s commitment to community policing.
Fair advertised Monday’s event through an email sent out Sunday night. The email reads in part:
“Assistant Chief Adger has long been a strong voice in the New Haven community for women, minorities and victim services. Her record of service to New Haven citizens seeking justice and fairness from NHPD has earned her the full trust and support of all city residents.
“While we acknowledge the new Chief’s authority to promote officers of his choosing, we strongly urge that his selection be informed by the wishes of the community residents he serves. Those community voices support Assistant Chief Adger, who was born and raised here in New Haven, and who has amassed a base of supporters, contacts and community networks that can be an invaluable resource to the city’s community policing initiative.”
Fair’s email claimed that Esserman plans to bring author David Kennedy in as one of the assistant chiefs. “Ms Adger is not happy about this plan. Many in the community feel the same way,” Fair wrote. However, Kennedy repeated Sunday what he said when the rumor first surfaced, that he in no way has been asked or is considering coming to New Haven as assistant chief. “A complete fiction,” he said of the rumor.
Rather the city has been in discussions with him to help plan an anti-violence strategy he has worked on with departments around the country. Read about that here.
Chief Esserman has not been in office 90 days and already his EGO is getting in the way of him doing his job. As the new Chief he has already let the citizens down by being on vacation during a string of shootings, even though he was unemployed prior to coming here and should have been well rested.Now he wants to replace his top brass. How can you make a fair assessment of the job they are doing in less than 90 days...give me a break.