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Pittman: The department should look like the community.
How much marijuana is too much marijuana for a potential police officer to have smoked? Does it matter if it was a half a joint two years ago or 12 months ago?
And should it matter if a potential officer has smoked weed in the past if the police department has no way of knowing if current cops partake in such activity?
Those were among the thorny questions raised by members of a task force on community and police relations as they prepare recommendations for improving the recruitment and retention of minority police officers.
The recommendations, which will ultimately go to the mayor and the Board of Police Commissioners, are part of a second phase of the task force’s work. In mid-July, the task force — put together by the mayor after a controversial arrest of a teenager outside the St. Patrick’s Day Parade — delivered its first set of recommendations for improving community-police relations in the city. Some of those recommendations included training that emphasizes deescalation and arrest diversion, and requiring officers to report misconduct by other officers. (Read more about the report here.)
Now the members are looking to make suggestions that they hope will influence the demographics of the police department so that it might one day look like the citizens it serves.
Fair and Williams: Double standard for applicants and cops.
The task force plans to request information about the more than 1,500 people who applied to become New Haven police officers in time to be a part of Class 21. Of those applicants 350 were minority. Only four black applicants were accepted. Task force members are seeking a breakdown by race of who was rejected and what factors kept them from being selected.
Task Force members Miguel Pittman and the Rev. Steven Cousin drafted a preliminary set of recommendations that a small contingency of the task force discussed at a meeting Thursday evening.
That’s when the question about marijuana came up. The recommendations suggest that the current policy is outdated and doesn’t reflect the changing status of marijuana use now that efforts to decriminalize or legalize it have picked up steam around the country.
Out of 248 people on the current civil service hiring list, 25 “did not continue due to drug policy violation, specifically marijuana,” said Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova.
“An applicant currently will not be considered if he/she has smoked marijuana [in] the past two years and exceeded the allotted amount,” notes the new task force draft recommendation. “An applicant may not have smoked marijuana in the past two years, but will not be considered because they have exceeded the amount in their past. An updated policy should state that an applicant did not smoke marijuana in the past year.”
Leroy Williams.
Task Force Co-Chair Leroy Williams pressed for a more specific recommendation. Should use in 24 months be a disqualifying criterion if the applicant is honest about their last use and how much they used?
“I guess I am kind of confused on the marijuana thing,” task force member Barbara Fair said. “How would anyone have marijuana in their system after two years anyway?”
Pittman, who has attempted to join the police department over the last four years, said it’s one of the questions on the polygraph test. He suggested that New Haven could follow Hartford’s lead and change the standard from 24 months marijuana free to 12 months.
“The question is not the marijuana,” co-chair Williams added. “The question is lying. It’s not the marijuana. It’s the lie. If you just tell the truth and be clean for the last 24 months, you’re fine.”
But task force member Rodney Williams noted that the department doesn’t randomly drug test to make sure that once people become cops that they don’t use drugs.
“It should be a hurdle, but not as high as they have it right now,” he said. “We probably have cops on the police department right now smoking weed.”
Farwell and Rabbi Eli Greer.
Task Force member Anstress Farwell said she worries less about someone getting high on marijuana and was more concerned that once that person becomes a cop, the dealer they bought the marijuana from might use that relationship against the cop.
“Could that affect the performance on the force,” she asked. “Could that drug dealer … use the fact that he sold something illegally to an officer as a way of manipulating that officer?”
Task Force member Donald Walker said the reality is while marijuana possession might be decriminalized locally, it’s still considered a federal crime. He also said that if someone working for him was a regular marijuana user, especially at a job where security and good judgment are an issue, “I’m not real thrilled about you getting high when I’m paying you.”
“I’m more concerned about that than what you were doing two years ago,” added task force member Barbara Fair
“Since you brought that up, does that exist on police force now?” Rodney Williams asked. “Is there testing for marijuana? I think since you opened that up, I don’t see why we as a task force can’t recommend that if weed can’t get you in, then you shouldn’t be smoking it once you’re in. There should be periodically testing who exactly is smoking weed.”
Co-Chair Leroy Williams recommended that members do a bit more research on what other departments like Hartford are doing when it comes to the drug use question and find out what is the current policy around substance abuse and active police officers.
Looking Local
Williams-Nelson: Vet for cultural competency.
Additional recommendations under consideration include creating a partnership with a local health care center like Cornell Scott-Hill. That would allow police academy applicants who don’t have health insurance to cover the cost of the physical exam and blood work that would-be cops have to have done before they can take the agility test. Another recommendation would give extra points, anywhere from 5 to 15, to applicants who are New Haven residents.
Another way suggested that applications could be weighted in favor of New Haveners would be to give points to would-be-cops who participate in the police department’s citizen academy and attend management team meetings.
Task Force members affirmed the police department’s own recommendation to have applicant background checks outsourced to a third party. Members suggested in preliminary recommendations that the department also consider looking for a new firm to conduct the psychological portion of the process. The same firm has been conducting that process for the last decade, according to Pittman.
Sheeva Williams-Nelson, a New Haven resident who attended the meeting Thursday, suggested that any current or future firm that handles the psychological portion of the process should be thoroughly vetted particularly for cultural competency.
But task force member Rodney Williams noted that the department doesn't randomly drug test to make sure that once people become cops that they don't use drugs.
"It should be a hurdle, but not as high as they have it right now," he said. "We probably have cops on the police department right now smoking weed."
Mr. Williams, where are you obtaining your information from. ALL police officers serving in New Haven are required to take random drug testing at any given time.
Giving extra points to applicants is never a good idea. You never get the most qualified for the job. We need to stop trying to manipulate the system in order to make the police department "one day look like the citizens it serves." I could care less what a person looks like when I am in need of a police officer, fire fighter or EMT. I want the BEST QUALIFIED person protecting me. Would you want a surgeon who only received a 75% on their medical exam, but was given an extra 15 points because they live in NH, bringing their score to a 90%, operating on you. HELL NO! Let's not lower the bar, we should be raising the bar when it comes to public safety.
You should take a look at how many workers in NH have received extra point because they lived in NH and then moved out of town after receiving he job! I bet the number would surprise you.