Paul Bass Photo
Officer Natalie Crosby.
“I’m so happy to be back,” said Natalie Crosby, who left the NHPD in 2019 after a distinguished three and a half years here as a patrol officer, for a better contract and for financial reasons.
Crosby missed being with her “New Haven police family” as well as her family in Morris Cove.
In a true story of how money doesn’t buy you love, Crosby was formally reinstated into the NHPD on Wednesday night.
Crosby, along with another former New Haven officer, Alex Rivera, were formally reinstated Wednesday by unanimous vote at a special meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners.
About 30 people were in attendance via the Zoom teleconferencing app in a meeting hosted by the board Chairman Anthony Dawson.
The formal proceedings — the interviewing of Crosby by the police commissioners on Chief Otoniel Reyes’s recommendation to reinstate — were conducted out of the view of the public and press in executive session.
Then the commissioners reconvened into the public Zoom session to cast the unanimous votes.
Crosby’s departure was part of a “blue exodus” of officers, many young and promising such as Crosby, who had left in large part because New Haven cops had gone without a contract for three years. Then, after lengthy negotiations, issues were resolved and a new contract was inked in the fall of 2019. Crosby had left earlier in 2019 to work for the Stamford police department.
Her return reflects how the department has stabilized since the contract, observed Chief Otoniel Reyes.
“These officers had an opportunity to experience this department. Having left, they gained an appreciation for not just the camaraderie here for the officers but the relationships they built with the community,” Reyes said. “To hear these officers articulate that and talk about missing that and being excited to get back to that kind of policing is both heartwarming and a validation of the work we do in New Haven.”
Friday morning, Crosby reflected in a telephone interview how good the decision felt.
“I left to seek better financial opportunities” and in part because of the uncertainty over the contract, she said.
She realized soon after that “it wasn’t about money and better contract.”
Crosby said she left Stamford on very good terms, but the main draw was the importance of being able to return to what she described “as my [police] family.”
Crosby grew up in East Haven with family who have been, and still are, on Concord Street on the East Shore. She had lucked out in being able after the academy to patrol that very neighborhood.
Click here for a Cop of The Week story of how early on, while cruising solo on the C‑squad late night shift, she pursued and nabbed teen-age car thieves.
“They have a lot of benefits” in Stamford, she said, “and I left in good standing because I missed New Haven.”
Also a significant factor in her return is the experience New Haven offers its officers.
“You could become a detective in four years in New Haven. It’s not like that in many places. Even after three and a half years I was there, I gained a ton of experience. Investigations and people skills. Any officer that leaves New Haven and goes to another town, they bring with a ton of experience.”
Crosby said she hasn’t yet received her new assignment. “I haven’t been told details yet.”
Would she like to return to the East Shore?
“I would love to, but it’s not my decision. They’ll put me where I’m needed.”
Welcome home. New Haven needs more officers who love and know the city and it's residents.