Paul Bass Photos
The pro-Casanova rally.
Activists rallying this week behind two leading candidates for police chief have ended up hurting their own causes, in the view of a seasoned New Haven cop.
The cop, retiree John Velleca, made the argument during an appearance Thursday on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
He spoke about two events: Tuesday’s press conference by black clergy and cops calling on Mayor Toni Harp to suspend the search for chief and name Interim Chief Anthony Campbell the permanent chief, because of controversial remarks and actions by Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova. (She declined.) And a rally the next day by supporters of Casanova, who blasted Campbell for suspending Casanova for “conducting unbecoming an officer” and called the whole episode a “smear” that “rigged” the chief-hiring process.
Campbell is black. Casanova is Latino.
Like other cops present and past, Velleca said the episode brought to the fore longstanding tensions between Latinos and African-Americans on the force. Especially when a powerful post is at stake.
“Everyone’s pursuing their personal agendas,” Velleca said of the two actions. “They’re not doing either one of these guys a favor.” He argued that each rally makes it more difficult politically for Harp to name the candidate being promoted. For instance, a person named chief after receiving community support in a controversial protest might then always face the question of whether he “would reciprocate that favor in the future.” Velleca said he wasn’t suggesting that either Casanova or Campbell would do that, but predicted that “the optics of that would be bad.”
He said a minor episode — in which Casanova berated an African-American beat cop as a “fucking mope” for the fashion in which he wore his department-issued knit cap; then initially denied him the right to have union representation at a meeting to discuss the incident — got blown out of proportion because of other people’s broader agendas.
Black cops and clergy blast Casanova, plug Campbell.
Velleca, who served as acting chief of the department and then retired in 2011 after Dean Esserman came on as chief, said that with the benefit of hindsight he would have recused himself from investigating the incident if he were in Campbell’s shoes, since both Campbell and Casanova are rivals for the chief’s job. But he argued that Campbell was within his rights to issue the one-day suspension swiftly for what should have been a non-event in the broader scheme of department life.
“This is not a murder investigation. This is pretty straightforward,” Velleca said. “… It’s been blown out of proportion.”
“When we’re looking for chiefs, it brings out the worst in everybody. We should be celebrating the PD right now” for its progress in cutting violent crime, Velleca said.
He said the episode reminds him of the last time a Latino and an African-American top cop vied for the chief position, in 2002. Then, too, the African-American candidate, Bryan Norwood, had the visible support of African-Americans in the department and in the community, and the Latino candidate, Francisco Ortiz, had backing of Latinos, including influential politicians. At the time supporters of Ortiz planned a rally on his behalf — and it was cancelled after the mayor at the time let it be known that would compromise his chances for becoming chief, Velleca recalled. Ortiz ultimately was named police chief.
Click on or download the above audio file to listen to the full interview with Velleca on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven,” which also featured discussion of body cameras for cops and prostitution arrests. For more episodes of “Dateline New Haven,” check out the show’s podcast feed.
I'm probably the only person who hasn't weighed in on this debacle, yet. So let me correct that oversight.
The main thought that comes to mind is that if you look at Rev. Kimber's history, you will see that the only person served by Rev. Kimber is .... Rev. Kimber!! This is not the first time that Boise's words and actions in political events have caused lasting damage to the political institutions of New Haven. A passage from his wikipedia entry reads ....
"As a commissioner, in 2004, Kimber openly lobbied to set aside the results of a firefighter's promotion exam, leading to a lawsuit by a group of 20 firefighters. In his concurring opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito singled out Kimber for having political motivations in that decision, which brought Kimber into the center of the controversy and led to mass media attention.[14] In particular, Emily Bazelon called Kimber "a convenient example of small-time race baiting and semi-thuggery."[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise_Kimber
Not much has changed since 2004 for the Rev. Kimber, despite the special "shout out" that Justice Alito gave him in Ricci.
If he intended to advance Acting Chief Campbell's prospects ... he has sorely missed the mark [..AGAIN]. I'm constantly amazed that anyone of sound mind and good judgement would acquiesce in his antics offered on their behalf. Thanks to Rev. Kimber, what should have been a relatively minor event has turned into an occurrence that threatens the very fabric of New Haven's cultural identity. And unfortunately for the Mayor, this genie is not going back in the bottle.