Paul Bass Photo
The police department got eight new faces Monday — with some familiar names.
Eight officers were sworn in at police headquarters, among them Michael Fumiatti II — a third-generation New Haven cop.
Michael’s grandfather Vinnie served on the force for 29 years. Michael’s uncle, Officer Robert Fumiatti, died from injuries sustained after a drug dealer shot him during a police operation in the Hill. (Click here to read about his funeral, here to read about a successful crusade Michael’s father, city government’s purchasing agent, waged to make sure Robert was recognized for having died in the line of duty.)
Michael (pictured), who’s 25, was asked before his swearing-in on the third floor of police headquarters what made him want to become a cop.
“It’s been in my family. I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he replied.
Policing is in Elizabeth White’s genes, too. White, who is also 25 and who is the new group’s only female, pictured at Monday’s ceremony with her brother Billy, who just retired as a detective. (Click here to read about one of his last major cases.)
And if Allyn Wright’s name sounded familiar to people — that’s because he was named after his uncle, New Haven’s former assistant fire chief. The new Officer Wright, who’s 37, left a position as a nuclear engineer at Electric Boat to join the New Haven force. He’s pictured shaking hands on the receiving line Monday with the son of a New Haven cop, Mayor John DeStefano, after DeStefano officially swore in the new officers.
The eight officers were trained as part of a regional class of cadets at Milford Police Academy. They will serve three months of field training, then spend at least their first year on the job on neighborhood walking beats. New Haven’s police academy has another class of 28 cadets slated to graduate in December.
The other new officers are Eric Aviles, Rafael Ramirez, Matthew Stevens, David Vega, and Hugo Villacres Jr.
In terms of increasing safety and providing career opportunities for families who actually live here, hiring 1 cop who lives in New Haven is as good as or better than hiring 3 cops who live somewhere else.
Instead of hiring 8 new cops who all live (or will soon be living) somewhere outside of New Haven, how about hiring 6 new cops and offering each of them $60,000 in housing down payments and incentives to live in the city, like what Yale University does with its employees.
Let's say that just 3 of the 6 new cops take up this offer - we'll be 50% safer, break even on the budget, and reduce our unemployment rate more than a new "job pipeline" program ever can.