Paul Bass Photo
Otoniel Reyes receives well wishes at announcement. Below: New Asst. Chiefs Renee Dominguez, Karl Jacobson, Herb Sharp.
Breen, Peak Photos
The mayor’s hometown choice for New Haven’s next top cop vowed to work with officers already here to rebuild the department — beginning with his naming of three experienced hands as his new assistant chiefs.
Mayor Toni Harp formally announced her choice, current Interim Chief Otoniel Reyes, at a press conference Tuesday that drew 100 people, including leaders of the Hispanic community, to City Hall. Reyes’ name now goes before the Board of Alders for a confirmation vote.
Back at 1 Union Ave. Tuesday afternoon, Reyes tapped Lts. Renee Dominguez, Karl Jacobson, and Herb Sharp to fill vacant assistant chief slots.
“As much as we’ve done to earn the trust and respect of this community, there is a lot of work to be done,” Reyes told the crowd at the City Hall announcement. He appealed to “every community leader, every community member, to join us in bringing this community together. Join us in making this department a great department every single day.”
Harp’s choice of Reyes (first reported last week) represented a conscious choice to look within the department. Her three finalists for the job were all current or former city cops.
By contrast, Harp’s predecessor brought in three straight chiefs (James Lewis, Frank Limon, and Dean Esserman) from outside New Haven beginning in July 2008 following a corruption scandal. Lewis and Limon each brought in their own trio of assistant chiefs from California and Chicago, respectively.
Mayor Harp has now selected two consecutive in-house assistant chiefs as her picks for chief. Their assistant chiefs, too, have come up through the ranks.
That strategy represents changing times in the department, Harp said after Tuesday’s event.
“The department years ago had a number of issues in its leadership that required them to go outside” for a chief, said Harp (who is pictured to Reyes’ left at the announcement). “The department has learned and grown in that process. Now is time for someone who has come up through the ranks. We’re a different department. We’re a better department. We’re ready to lead our own.”
Among the biggest challenges facing Reyes, if confirmed for the job, is building up the ranks of a department that saw over 50 officers leave since the beginning of 2018 because of fears of benefits givebacks as well as the lure of higher pay on suburban forces. The department currently has around 385 officers; that number includes 27 cadets still in the academy. The city has slashed its budgeted ranks from 495 to 429 officers.
“I’d like to focus on the glass being half full,” Reyes said at the press conference. Meaning: The openings create opportunity to shape the department with renewed energy and vision.
He and Harp spoke of the talent still in the department. There’s room for experienced cops who haven’t left to advance.
For instance, the ascension of the new assistant chiefs opens up the supervisory positions they’ve left behind: Dominguez currently oversees the family services division; Jacobson oversees the intelligence unit; Sharp oversees patrol. Also, Brett Runlett, who oversaw the detective division, has just retired.
“My goal is to invest in the department,” Reyes told the Independent after naming his three new assistant chiefs.
Leslie Reyes and David Reyes, Otoniel Reyes’ wife and son, at the announcement.
Reyes’s roots in the city and in the department were a theme at the event.
“I lived in Church Street South for eight years of my life until my dad was able to buy a house” in the Hill, Reyes noted. “I went to public schools here. I went to church here. This is my community.”
“It shows our Hill kids you can go to the public school system, you can go to a college, and you can come back and be chief of the department,” said Hill Alder David Reyes.
Otoniel Reyes has done pretty much every job in the department, from patrol officer to district manager, from detective to member of a federal-state-local gang task force, from chief of detectives to chief of patrol.
“When you have someone who has grown from within the department, that brings in a level of respect from his fellow officers,” said New Haven State Rep. Juan Candelaria (pictured), who labeled Reyes’ pick “an excellent choice.”
Harp’s pick follows intense lobbying from some members of the African-American community who favored one of two black finalists for the job. Meanwhile, in a contested election year, some Hispanic leaders have criticized the mayor for not appointing enough Latinos to leadership posts in her administration.
For our city's sake I hope Reyes is successful. His track record is spotty at best and those who know him understand what he's all about. He's about Tony! He didn't have the whole-hearted support of any community -- we all know the Latino community wanted Chief Casanova -- and he hasn't done much to curb the overtime during his watch. The first hint that things won't change: Reyes hired three assistant chiefs when this was his opportunity to send a message about right-sizing the department. Let's see where Chief Reyes takes us.