nothin Fifth Time’s The Charm For Newly Minted Cop | New Haven Independent

Fifth Time’s The Charm For Newly Minted Cop

David Yaffe-Bellany Photo

Pittman: He didn’t give up.

He failed the first time. And then failed again. And again. And again.

But on his fifth attempt, after hours of daily preparation, Desmond Pittman finally passed the entrance exam for a place in the New Haven Police Academy.

Monday night he realized his childhood dream.

Officer Pittman was one of 30 recruits who formally joined the ranks of the New Haven Police Department on Monday night at a graduation ceremony at Amistad High School.

I got into the books this time, reading a lot more” Pittman said. I’d spend my weekends just studying.”

Monday night’s ceremony, held in a packed gymnasium filled with hundreds of friends and family members of the recruits, took place in the midst of a tumultuous period for the police department. Chief Dean Esserman — who did not attend the ceremony but was featured in the program and in a tribute video celebrating the graduating class — is serving the second week of a three-week suspension for losing his temper again in public . Meanwhile, departments across the country face tough questions about the role of law enforcement in predominantly black communities.

In an address to the graduating class, Mayor Toni Harp alluded to the distrust many people feel toward police officers in the wake of the deadly shootings in other cities.

The badge you wear can sometimes become a magnet, alternately bringing scrutiny … and praise,” she said, adding that cops embody a social obligation to live by and in a certain set of rules.”

Officer Steven Travaglino, who graduated as class leader and received an award for his marksmanship, has spent much of his career sticking to strict rules about the chain of command and orders from superiors.

In the mid-2000s, Travaglino served in Iraq for 14 months, an experience that prepared him for the rigors of police training. Still, he said, it would be a mistake to call police work a step down from the intensity of military combat.

In the military, no matter what you go out there with a group of people,” he said. Here we have to be able to operate individually and under much more scrutiny.”

Pittman — whose cousin, Tammi Means, is a sergeant in the department — worked at Yale-New Haven Hospital while he studied year after year for an exam he was desperate to pass.

It runs in the family,” he said. I always wanted to be a police officer.”

Crosby receives her badge.

Officer Natalie Crosby also has family in the department. She was inspired to become a cop by her fifth-grade DARE instructor, who led memorable lessons on the consequences of reckless behavior that have continued to resonate with her over the years.

Crosby told the Independent that the events of the last month — including a shooting at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas that left five police officers dead — do not weigh on her very much. She has faith, she said, in the community-policing strategies that New Haven recruits are taught to employ.

It’s always in the back of your mind,” she said. But we’ve got good relationships with the community.”

Acting Chief Campbell.

The New Haven Police Department, like other police forces nationwide, has historically struggled to recruit black officers. Seven of the cops who graduated Monday night, just under 25 percent of the class, are African American.

You cannot say you’re practicing community policing if your police department does not reflect the community you’re policing,” said Acting Chief Anthony Campbell, who is filling in for Esserman during his paid leave. And given the demographics of New Haven, it has been one of our concerted efforts, and we will try to do it on an even better basis.”

Campbell told the Independent that the department has taken a number of steps to increase diversity in its ranks: door-to-door campaigns, programs to get schoolchildren involved in the department, outreach to local pastors with influence in the black community.

The newest class of New Haven police officers.

Following are the names of New Haven’s 30 new officers: Burr S. Allen; Christina G. Altieri; Brandon T. Cain; Christian L. Carfora; Alexander S. Carr; Natalie Crosby; Matthew F. Curran; Gregory J. Dash; Jazmin L. Delgado; Christian A. Fiscella; Larnell T. Jackson; Lindsey A. Jordan; Evan M. Kelly; Jarrell W. Lowery; Michael A. Maciver; Maegan C. Moran; Nicole Motzer; Glen M. Oliwa; Luis M. Pena; Desmond E. Pittman; Michael Relva; Alex J. Rivera Jr.; Anthony E. Ryken; David N. Simpson; Anthony J. Tarantino; Daniel H. Tilley; Steven J. Travaglino; Robert F. Tyghter-Twigg; Brian Watrous; and Tyler J. Zajac.

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