Thomas Breen / Allan Appel photos
New Haven Chief Reyes and YPD Chief Higgins.
The chiefs of police for both Yale and New Haven defended the university’s police department as a critical “partner” in providing public safety in New Haven, during an aldermanic committee hearing focused on the inner workings and proper role of the local private police force.
That virtual workshop was held Tuesday night by the Board of Alders Public Safety Committee.
New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes advocated throughout the night on behalf of the Yale police, while Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins fielded questions from alders about his department’s relationship with New Haven police.
“When we are in the most dire situations, I can make a phone call, and in minutes, I have the support of the men and women of the Yale Police Department,” Reyes said. “That’s incredible to me as the chief of police.”
“There’s a service that the Yale police department provides to the [New Haven] police department, and to many it’s unseen,” said Higgins.
Higgins said that the YPD responds to 20,000 calls a year.
He also said that he and Reyes plan to revisit the 1992 agreement with the city that outlines the extent of his officers’ authority.
Three alders — Prospect Hill/Newhallville/Dixwell Alder Steven Winter, East Rock/Cedar Hill Alder Anna Festa, and Hill Alder Ron Hurt — had called for the workshop in the aftermath of the 2019 police shooting of Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon in Newhallville. In that incident, Hamden police officer Devin Eaton and Yale police officer Terrance Pollock fired shots at Washington and Witherspoon; the state’s attorney arrested Eaton with assault and reckless endangerment as a result, while clearing Pollock of wrongdoing. Yale later suspended Pollock for 30 days and assigned him to administrative duty.
In the aftermath of the shooting, police accountability activists criticized the fact that Yale and Hamden police officers had been present in an area of Newhallville that is ordinarily under the jurisdiction of the New Haven police. They argued that since all three departments maintain some degree of presence in New Haven neighborhoods, the city has become over-policed.
Tuesday night’s workshop came amidst a summer of protests against police brutality, in New Haven and across the nation — several of which called to “abolish the YPD.”
“Some Of The Best Trained Officers”
Tuesday night’s workshop.
Alder Winter testified Tuesday that he hoped the workshop would clarify the nature of the relationship between Yale’s police department and New Haven’s.
He asked Higgins about the difference between the two departments as established in a Connecticut state statute and in a 1992 Memorandum of Understanding between the university and the city — and heard back that he would need to ask the university’s lawyers for more details on the legal particularities.
Anthony Campbell, an assistant chief with the YPD who used to be the NHPD’s chief of police, explained that the departments are able to provide one another with backup. He said Yale police officers were recently dispatched to a shooting on Rosette Street alongside New Haven police. They also collaborate strategically, such as in a joint anti-terrorism task force.
Reyes spoke positively about the YPD’s presence in New Haven. He recalled several experiences in which, as an NHPD officer, he relied on Yale police officers for backup.
One such moment included his first “major incident” as a rookie officer, a domestic violence dispute that involved a shooting. He called Yale officers, who undergo NHPD training — and earn NHPD badges — while also training in campus-specific concerns, “some of the best trained officers you’ll see.”
Again and again, Higgins and Reyes emphasized that the Yale police and the New Haven police are “partners.”
Still, the departments are separate entities — and Winter clarified that the Yale police department has its own system of hiring, firing, and disciplining officers.
CRB Oversight? No Comment
Over the course of the workshop, committee alders asked Higgins about the YPD’s operations.
Downtown/East Rock Alder Abby Roth asked Higgins if he would consider placing the YPD under the jurisdiction of the soon-to-be-formed Civilian Review Board as he and Reyes revisit the 1992 MOU.
The Civilian Review Board is set to oversee allegations of misconduct pertaining to the NHPD; could this disciplinary system apply to Yale police as well?
In response, Higgins referred Roth to Yale’s general counsel.
Roth also asked about whether the YPD would participate in the city’s forthcoming initiative to send social workers, rather than police officers, to some 911 calls that require social services rather than arrests.
The system sounds like a good idea, Higgins said, but he’d need to know more before commenting. He noted that he had not been consulted about the new program before it was announced.
West Hills/West Rock Alder Honda Smith asked Higgins about the boundaries of Yale’s patrol routes.
Higgins stressed that while Yale police officers sometimes assist the New Haven police when dispatched to calls, the department regularly patrols only areas near where Yale owns property. He clarified that these bounds extend to Highland Street, Whitney Avenue, Daggett Street, and Dwight Street — reaching the neighborhoods of Prospect Hill, Downtown, the Hill, and Dwight.
Most crime that occurs on campus is property crime, Higgins said. Still, he added, the YPD’s five policing districts experience between 45 and 48 percent of New Haven’s violent crime.
YPD In The Community
Quinnipiac Heights Alder Gerald Antunes, the chair of the Public Safety Committee and a former police captain, asked Higgins what the YPD is doing to strengthen relationships with the neighborhoods near campus, including Downtown, Dixwell, and Newhallville.
Higgins replied that the YPD has several outreach initiatives, including sending two to three officers to the Police Athletic League camp, bringing neighborhood kids to football and basketball games, and participating in community management team meetings.
“Could it be better? Yes,” Higgins said.
Campbell said that a priority for the Yale police is to “expand the pipeline of communication” to the New Haven community.
“Far too often, you see officers in their patrol bikes or just responding to a call,” he said.
“As someone who went to Yale who came from a community that doesn’t look like Yale, it feels like there are walls around Yale.”
He said that the YPD has a new policy where for every shift, officers need to spend two hours on the streets, talking to community members.
Higgins agreed that the YPD could improve communication with the public. “I think we need to tell our own story more,” he said of his police department. He suggested that at community management teams, officers could ensure that attendees feel comfortable asking questions and engaging with dialogue.
Every year in the two last weeks of August, Yale graduate and professional students are targeted by muggers throughout East Rock. Every year, like clockwork--this year, we're seen three incidents in two days. And it turns out that these incidents always happen in the same spots: on Canner between Prospect and Orange, on Prospect between Edwards and Canner, on Orange (and sidestreets) between Canner and Edwards, and on Edwards, especially toward State St. Now that I'm on this point, Livingston is also known throughout at the city as a wonderful place to do a quick smash and grab--the sun glitters in shards of glass on that stretch year-round. Then there's the old car on milk crates with no wheels trick, which has made a strong comeback in East Rock.
Yale police can make a great case for themselves by being more of a presence throughout the neighborhood. They don't have to come down like a ton of bricks on random folks, or do "suspicious person" profiling, or whatever; they just have to be present and visible, which is something that goes a long way toward deterring crimes of opportunity.