Markeshia Ricks Photo
Miller, at right, at the Boys & Girls Club.
While there are some perks to being a New Haven police officer, free donuts and free gas are not among them.
“Let’s dispel that myth right now,” Dixwell top cop Lt. Sam Brown told a bleacher of young people gathered at the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven.
Brown (pictured far right in the above photo) joined his fellow district managers, Lt. Makiem Miller (Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills), Lt. Brendan Hosey (Hill South) and Sgt. Tammi Means (Downtown) (pictured above in uniform from left to right) to share information about themselves and how they came to be police officers.
The officers, who were invited to the Wednesday night event to speak on the topic of “Building Positive Relationships with Law Enforcement” through a collaboration between the Boys & Girls Club and New Haven’s Prince Hall Shriners of Arabic Temple No. 40, also sought to dispel some myths about being a police officer.
Perry Cunningham Jr., 10, had the most questions. He wanted to know what type of educational background is necessary to become a cop, what kind of training they had to go through, and importantly, how much the officers make.
Lt. Miller said often times what people see of police work on television can be misleading. “Sometimes people will say they want to be a detective but they don’t want to be a patrol officer,” he said. “Everyone has to become a patrol officer before they can ever be a detective.”
The young people learned a little bit about each officer. Miller (pictured in the photo at left) was an avid baseball player in his younger days. Hosey (pictured center) was a big soccer player. Means, a New Haven native (pictured at right), followed in her father’s footsteps to become an officer. Brown, who grew up in The Hill, is a product of the Boys & Girls Club.
In light of the killings of unarmed black men by white officers in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, and the publicized stop of a New York Times columnist’s son by Yale police, the officers were asked about how the young people in the room should respond when approached by the police. Lt. Brown said that respect is a two-way street. Maintaining calm, keeping emotions in check and taming one’s tongue go a long way.
“You have to understand our job,” he said. “We are usually responding to a call, and we’re trying to service that call and get it done.” Brown said an interaction with an officer lasts about five to seven minutes on average, but when people are uncooperative everything takes longer.
Miller said some of the most dangerous interactions officers face are seemingly routine events like traffic stops or domestic violence calls. “You don’t know what that person has in the car. And I know y’all always say, ‘Why are there two to three cops stopping that one car?’ But it’s not supposed to be fair.” Miller said it’s an issue of safety for the officer.
“I have a daughter and son that need me,” he said. “And I’m going to wait on these guys to come back me up.”
The state’s chief New Haven probation officer, Leonard Jahad (at right in photo with Hosey and Brown), said New Haven isn’t Ferguson, and it won’t be, because of the city’s commitment to diversity. He pointed to the city having a black mayor and a black fire chief. Though the police chief is white, three of the four assistant police chiefs are black or Hispanic, he noted.
“It’s not going to happen here in New Haven,” he said. “We’re not going to let it happen here.”
The state's chief New Haven probation officer, Leonard Jahad (at right in photo with Hosey and Brown), said New Haven isn't Ferguson, and it won't be, because of the city's commitment to diversity. He pointed to the city having a black mayor, a black fire chief,. Though the police chief is white, three of the four assistant police chiefs are black or Hispanic, he noted."It's not going to happen here in New Haven," he said. "We're not going to let it happen here.
If there is diversity, They how come black and latino Police Officers had to sue to get there promotion to Sgt? As far as a having a Black Mayor, What is your point.Hell New Orleans Detroit had black mayors and look at them now.
Dr Claude Anderson Black Politicians Are Useless
http://youtu.be/1Fr-OO5HvdM