Thomas Breen photo
Officer Borisova out recruiting on Wednesday.
New Haven police visited the Stop & Shop parking lot on Whalley Avenue — not in response to a call for help, but instead as part of a new push to recruit community members to join the local force.
The city police department held that outdoor recruitment event Wednesday midday in the expansive parking lot and retail plaza at 150 Whalley Ave.
Leaving paper flyers on the windshields of parked cars and flagging down customers as they pushed carts full of groceries along the ocean of asphalt, Sgt. Dana Smith, Officer Yelena Borisova, and Officer Todd Kelley encouraged the New Haveners they met to apply to become a police officer — and to let interested family and friends know that the department is now hiring.
Sgt. Dana Smith.
“We’re a community-based police department,” said Smith, who is the department’s supervisor of recruitment and background investigations. “We try to get people from the community. We try to get whoever’s eligible, whether they be Black, Brown, Asian, Caucasian, whatever. As many people from the community as we can get, that’s what we try to do.”
The parking lot recruitment push came two days after the department formally began recruiting for new police officer candidates.
It also came one day after the department held a women-focused online recruiting event called Empowering Women Through Law Enforcement. At that forum, current city officers who are women answered female attendees’ questions about the challenges of being a woman in law enforcement, the importance of having a diverse force, and whether or not one has to be tall to be a police officer. (Spoiler: You don’t). See more below on that event.
Police officer job applications are now available online at policeapp.com/newhaven. Applications must be completed and submitted online by Friday, Sept. 4.
The starting pay for city police officers is $49,387. That annual salary increases to $75,961 by an officer’s third year, according to the application form.
According to the pamphlets handed out by the recruitment officers Wednesday, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to be considered for employment by the department: They must be 21 years old as of Nov. 4, 2020; must have a high school diploma or GED; must have good written and verbal communication skills in English; must be a born or naturalized U.S. citizen; must not have any felony convictions or Class A or Class B misdemeanor convictions; must possess a valid driver’s license; and must reside within 20 miles of New Haven after graduation from the police academy.
Smith said that the department usually tries to seat a new police academy class with 30 to 40 candidates. He said the department just recently started a class with 18 recruits.
“It’s Nice To See Them Out Here”
Tammy Rius (pictured) said that her nephew is interested in becoming a police officer, and that she would pass along the recruitment information to him this afternoon. She said he was at the gym at that very moment, trying to stay in shape.
“It’s a good thing,” Rius said about seeing officers out at the Whalley Avenue grocery store letting anyone and everyone know that the department is hiring.
“I can see a change, that they’re trying to get involved with the community more. Sometimes people don’t trust them, but it’s getting better.”
Borisova shares a police recruitment flyer with Rius.
Born and raised in Newhallville, Rius said she’s “always been at a place of trust with the New Haven Police Department.”
Even amidst this summer of protest against police brutality around the country, she said, she feels confident that New Haven officers are overwhelmingly interested in protecting the community they serve.
Vanessa Berrios (pictured), another New Haven native, said the same. She’s not personally looking to become a police officer, but she has a friend who is, and planned to pass along the information.
“It’s nice to see them out here trying to community with people,” she said. She said she thinks police-community relations would only improve if regular people see officers out in the community more, and not just in times of crisis.
“There’s good people and bad people,” she said about her current thoughts on police in general and New Haven’s department in particular. “It’s not all police that are bad. You see a lot of bad things, but you know that it’s not everyone. You can’t think that it’s everyone. “
She said she’s had relatively little contact with city police. And from what she has seen, she said, she’s been impressed.
“I’ve seen them doing their job, but I’ve never seen them beat somebody.”
Berrios recognized that this summer’s protests have likely taken quite a toll on officers who are in the job for all the right reasons.
“I know it’s affecting them,” she said. “Even though they’re not the ones doing anything wrong, some people see it as it’s all cops. It’s scary, because there are some out there that will do whatever, and they can’t get away with in. But there are some good ones that are really there to protect us and do what they’re supposed to do.”
Officer Todd Kelley shares recruitment info with Wyatt Jackson.
Wyatt Jackson said he would consider applying, if he were 50 years younger.
He’s 75 now and, he said, probably not the right fit for the job.
“I think it’s good that they’re recruiting in the neighborhood,” he said. “If that could help one life, it’s worth it.”
Confidence > Height
Zoom
Tuesday night’s women-focused recruitment event.
Size doesn’t matter, at least when it comes to being a good police officer. What’s much more important is confidence and an ability to communicate.
A panel of women officers from the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) passed along those words of wisdom to prospective female police candidates Tuesday evening during an Empowering Women Through Law Enforcement forum.
The department held the virtual recruitment event in an attempt to expand the NHPD’s pool of applicants and further diversify the ranks of the city police. It was organized by Supervisor of Recruitment and Background Investigations Sgt. Dana Smith and Deputy Commander of Training Sgt. Shayna Kendall.
The event came one day after the NHPD officially opened its application process for new officers on Monday. Interested candidates can submit applications as late as Sept. 4.
According to the city’s June monthly financial report, 16 percent of the department’s sworn personnel are female.
One of Tuesday’s attendees, Victoria Weiss, asked the women officers for advice about “always being told I’m too nice to be a cop, or too small.”
“It’s not what you look like or how big you are because in reality our biggest tool is our mouth to communicate,” said Kendall.
Officer Jasmine Sanders, who is five feet and two inches tall, said height means nothing.
“I’m a small statue and I pay it no mind because I have confidence,” she responded.
Kendall said the purpose of the women-focused recruitment event was to show that the department is “able to advance.”
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the recruitment team won’t be doing as much in-person travel as usual. Now the team is looking at more virtual opportunities to promote the recruitment process and attract candidates interested in serving on the NHPD.
Sgt. Shayna Kendall.
Kendall (pictured)and Smith organized the Zoom panel for about 15 potential applicants in hopes of recruiting more women to the male-dominated profession of law enforcement.
A department that has many confident and capable women on its force is empowering, said Kendall.
The panel of women officers ranged in ranks and time of service to offer a variety of perspectives to those interested in a career at the NHPD. The panelists discussed some of their experiences on job and shared with the group other requirements for becoming a police officer (e.g. at least 21 years old as of November 2020, a GED or high school degree_.
The panel was made up of NHPD Officers Nikki Curry, Nancy Jordan, and Sanders, Sgt. Kendall, and Lt. Lt. Manmeet Colon.
Kendall said the NHPD is open to becoming better by making the department reflect the community it serves more. “Women officers can provide a different lens,” said Kendall.
Smith hopes that the hiring of more women officers will offer more role models in New Haven.
The NHPD is one of the best police departments in the country, according to Kendall. By hiring more women the department can “rely mostly on the ability to talk and connect with people,” said Kendall.
“I Wanted To Get A Different Perspective”
The panel started with informing the group about the application process, and finished with a Q&A.
A viewer named Sarah asked the panel, “What made you stay with New Haven? What do you like most?”
Curry applied to the NHPD 11 years ago. It was the only department she applied to.
Curry said she was unsure she would be recruited as she has a few family members who are convicted felons.
Curry was born and raised in New Haven. Growing up, she only had negative encounters with police.
“I always saw them arresting my family. I remember running from them too,” she said. “I joined because I wanted to get a different perspective.”
Sanders said she joined the NHPD because it “gives you many opportunities to grow.”
Jordan too was raised in New Haven and has been working to make a difference in her community since joining 20 years ago.
Laura Galvet applied last year and asked the panel for advice for how to work as a police officer while living in the same city one patrols.
“You’re going to get challenged on the job as a female. Don’t let anybody get in your head and tell you otherwise,” said Curry.
Sanders added that knowing residents can be an advantage.
Applications for recruitment will close Sept. 4.
Thais Saucedo, a 20-year-old attendee at the forum, asked the panel for advice as she trains and waits to apply until she turns 21 next year.
Kendall advised Saucedo to condition and get in shape now. “Act as though your’re currently going through the process,” she responded.
Smith and Kendall said they hope to continue these forums during the open application time for anyone interested in getting a new look at policing.
The more diverse the NHPD becomes, the better off the community will be. Become part of the solution, make change in policing, make change in the community, join the NHPD. I'm sure they need people from different cultural backgrounds, people who speak different languages, people who have different viewpoints and more people who grew up in the city and know the neighborhoods and the people in it.