Thomas Breen photo
Mayor Justin Elicker by the Q Bridge on Tuesday.
The morning after a stinging rebuke by the alders, Mayor Justin Elicker doubled down on his promise to resubmit Renee Dominguez’s name for the role of permanent police chief — and on working with the alders to get her second nomination “across the finish line.”
Elicker defended his police chief pick Tuesday morning at Pearl Harbor Memorial Park during a Q&A with reporters that was held after a ceremonial wreath-laying to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World War II surprise attack.
TV news reporters barraged the mayor with question after question in a bid to understand Elicker’s plans after the Board of Alders resoundingly rejected on Monday night his nomination of Acting Chief Dominguez to finish out the current police chief term that ends Jan. 31, 2022.
Repeating what he first said in an email press release sent out after Monday’s vote, Elicker committed on Tuesday to resubmitting Dominguez’s name to the Board of Alders for another round of consideration for permanent police chief. After he resubmits her name, the alders have 30 days to consider and vote on Dominguez’s renomination.
“She has my confidence that she’s the right person for the job,” he said about the 19-year New Haven Police Department veteran who has led the department since March. He described the alders’ vote as “disappointing,” and said that his office will “work with the alders on some of the issues raised.
“What was clear from last night is that the alders expressed an openness, not just to shut this down, but to explore this more and continue to get this across the finish line.”
Alders ranging from Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow to Newhallville Alder Kim Edwards to Westville Alder Adam Marchand to Downtown Alder Eli Sabin spoke up during Monday’s hearing to criticize what they described as the mayor’s and the acting chief’s lack of a plan to diversify the upper ranks of the department, solve more homicides and nonfatal shootings, and build trust between police and the community. For the first time since 1993, there are no nonwhite cops in the city’s top ranks of chief, assistant chief, or captain.
Asked about what his big takeaways from the alders’ Monday night critiques, Elicker said, “What I’ve heard from the alders is we all share the goal of having a very diverse police department, both at the entry levels and at the higher levels.” He said that the newest class of police recruits has “a very high percentage of people who are Black and brown,” and he said that the chief “inherited some of these challenges, because it takes a long time for people to move up the ranks.”
“I think the chief has heard the alders that they want to see appointments at the highest level that are diverse,” Elicker said.
Fox 61’s Tony Terzi asked Elicker about one cop in particular, Sgt. Bert Ettienne, who used to oversee the major crimes and detective divisions and report directly to the assistant chief before Dominguez took over. Dominguez made a captain Ettienne’s supervisor and removed one of the two divisions from his oversight.
If the chief were to ask the mayor about his thoughts on promoting Etienne to captain or assistant chief, Terzi asked, what would Elicker say?
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to get into names of specific people because the chief is not confirmed, and also because we want to make sure that whoever is in the assistant chief positions is in there for the right reason and has every opportunity to succeed,” he replied.
Will he consider looking for a new chief outside of the New Haven Police Department?
“When we can, we should hire from inside” the department, Elicker replied.
Does he have a Plan B in case the alders turn down Dominguez’s nomination again?
“I’m focused on addressing the alders’ concerns and getting the chief across the finish line,” he said.
And what about the ambiguities in the City Charter regarding how much longer Dominguez can serve as acting chief, given that she will have passed the six-month mark in that role on Jan. 1?
“We’re working with the city’s Corporation Counsel to determine exactly how the timeline is going to be for the resubmission and the chief’s appointment,” Elicker said.
And what about the department’s plans to reduce gun violence and solve cold-case homicides?
Elicker pointed to the city’s restarting of an interdepartmental Shooting Task Force, its hiring of more street outreach workers, its push for alders to allow for spending American Rescue Plan grant money on 500 surveillance cameras and expanding ShotSpotter, the city’s opening of a new one-stop reentry center for those returning to New Haven from incarceration, and the city’s planning around a new community crisis response team that would send social workers and mental health professionals instead of police officers to certain 911 calls.
“We have a comprehensive plan to address the violence,” he said.
Alders at Monday night's meeting.
In an email press release sent out Monday night after the alders’ vote to reject Dominguez’s nomination, the Board of Alders leadership sent out the following statement.
The statement was not signed by any particular alders. However, Board of Alders leadership consists of President Tyisha Walker-Myers, Majority Leader Richard Furlow, President Pro Tem Jeanette Morrison, Deputy Majority Leader Evelyn Rodriguez, and Third Officer Sal DeCola:
“As you are aware the Board of Alders did not approve this nomination from the Mayor for the Police Chief. This is a not a decision we took lightly. The Public Safety of our residents and the well being of our officers are priorities for this Board of Alders and has been a pillar of its agenda for the last ten years. That said, the timing and process of this proposed appointment required a thorough detailed and nuanced plan for the future of the department that was acceptable to the community and engendered trust. That did not happen nor did real community engagement. When we are confident that there is a real strategic plan that includes the recruitment of diverse employees training and advancement of officers to all levels in the department, action on improving closure rates, successful efforts toward decreasing homicides, and tackling the violence afflicting our city, then and only then can we move forward together.”
The statement by the leadership of the BOA is a real barn burner of sanctimonious arrogant nonsense that says nothing and means even less. They're empty words by bloviating politicians of a small city being overrun by poverty, lack of economic opportunity, high taxes, even higher debt and a never ending tin cup beg-a-thon for bailout money. Let's just start with working on public safety for the last decade - if you've been focused on it, then explain the 24 dead, lots of shootings, lots of car thefts, break-ins etc. Community engagement? You know what this really is - it's a clear indication the BOA will never approve Chief Dominguez until and unless she and Elicker swear fealty to "the community" and we all know who that is.