Policing Updates: 10 Gun-Related Arrests Made; 500-Police-Camera Contractor Picked

City police recently made 10 different arrests in gun-related incidents that took place between July 2020 and late March of this year.

And the Elicker Administration has picked a Hamden-based contractor to roll out the police department’s 500-surveillance-camera plan — with no timeline in sight.

Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez and Mayor Justin Elicker offered those updates Monday morning during a press conference held on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

Most of the presser consisted of Dominguez ticking through 10 recent gun- and shooting-related arrests made by city patrol officers and detectives. Dominguez and Asst. Chief Karl Jacobson said that police believe that most of these incidents, arrests, and suspects are ​“group or gang” affiliated.

Overall, Dominguez said, the city has seen 18 nonfatal shootings and two homicides so far this year. That’s in comparison to 21 nonfatal shootings and nine homicides at this point last year.

Also, police have seized 54 guns and made 49-gun related arrests so far this year. That’s in comparison to 46 guns seized and 49 gun-related arrests at this point last year.

The recent gun-related incidents and arrests that Dominguez reviewed on Monday included:

• On March 19, police officers responded to 309 Dixwell Ave. for a report of shots fired. Officers spoke with a witness who said they saw the individual who fired the gun. City police soon thereafter apprehended a suspect, obtained information on where the gun was located, and — after getting a search warrant — later found and seized the gun. Police arrested a 45-year-old New Haven man and charged him with one felony count of criminal possession of a pistol and one misdemeanor count of illegal discharge of a firearm.

• On March 20, officers responded to 300 Newhall St. in response to a ShotSpotter report of gunshots fired. They found a car parked in a nearby driveway and, after approaching the vehicle, saw that ​“in plain view was a firearm on the center console.” Police ultimately arrested a 29-year-old New Haven man and charged him with a handful of charges, including one felony count of illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, one felony count of carrying a pistol without a permit, and one misdemeanor count of illegal discharge of a firearm.

• On March 23, officers were dispatched to Washington Avenue and Morris Street for a domestic violence and weapon complaint. Dominguez said that the alleged offender had left the scene prior to the police officers’ arrival. After locating the individual and getting a search warrant for a home on Clover Place, police found that the individual had ​“three outstanding warrants” and ultimately seized a Taurus 9mm firearm. Police arrested the 28-year-old man on one felony count of criminal possession of a firearm, one felony count of carrying a pistol without a permit, and one misdemeanor count of second-degree breach of peace.

• On Feb. 24, officers responded to a ShotSpotter report of shots fired on Dewitt Street. With ​“much help from the community” and nearby video surveillance footage, city detectives determined that ​“over 12 gunshots” were fired on Dewitt Street that day. They also ultimately seized a 9mm Glock gun hidden in an attic and arrested a 19-year-old man on a host of charges, including one felony count of criminal possession of a pistol and one misdemeanor count of illegal discharge of a firearm.

• On Dec. 9, 2021, officers were dispatched to 218 Davenport Ave. for reports of seven gunshots fired. They learned that a 22-year-old New Haven man had been shot ​“multiple times” and transported to the hospital. ​“Critical video surveillance” showed who was there prior to the shooting, Dominguez said. Ultimately, on March 12, city police made an arrest, and the suspect is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.

• On March 25, city detectives executed a search warrant on Hallock Avenue, found a .32-caliber revolver, a 9mm pistol, 50 folds of heroin, and $5,000 in cash. Police arrested a 43-year-old ​“convicted felon” and charged him with one felony count of criminal possession of a pistol, one felony count of carrying a pistol without a permit, one felony count of sale of a narcotic substance, and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance.

• Also on March 25, city police executed a search warrant at the Best Way Inn on Pond Lily Avenue, where investigators found a .32-caliber gun and crack cocaine. Police arrested a 43-year-old man and charged him with one felony count of criminal possession of a firearm and one felony count of possession of a narcotic substance with intent to sell.

• On March 26, plainclothes officers made a ​“suspicious person” vehicle stop on Grand Avenue and, after a short pursuit on foot, apprehended and arrested an individual who is a ​“convicted felon” and had a 9mm gun in his pocket. 

• On March 27, plainclothes officers doing a ​“dirt bike” detail in Fair Haven stopped a four-wheel ATV being driven by Criscuolo Park. One of the operators of that vehicle had a 9mm pistol on him. Police arrested the 20-year-old man and charged him with one felony count of carrying a pistol without a permit.

• And on July 12, 2020, city police officers responded to the report of shots fired on Greenwich Avenue. They soon learned that two victims had been shot multiple times. Officers ultimately found ​“15 9m shell casings” at the scene. Over the course of the investigation, officers learned that a ​“suspect vehicle” had driven by those victims twice, with someone in the car shooting out of the moving vehicle at the victims multiple times. Police have obtained an arrest warrant for a suspect, who is currently incarcerated for another incident. Dominguez said police plan to serve that suspect with the arrest warrant for the Greenwich Avenue shooting-related charges this week.

"I Don't Want An Article Every Other Week Saying That We're Behind Our Timeline"

Also during Monday’s police presser, Elicker and Dominguez said that the city has picked a contractor to install 500 police surveillance cameras across New Haven as part of a federal-relief-funded effort to prevent and solve shootings and homicides.

That Hamden-based company is called Utility Communications, Inc. Elicker and Dominguez said that the city awarded the company the camera contract last week. 

The city first posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the work on Feb. 17. The Board of Alders, meanwhile, signed off on the camera-expansion plan last December when local legislators overwhelmingly approved the Elicker Administration’s request to spend $12 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money on a host of public safety and technology initiatives. That allocation includes $3.8 million to buy and install 500 new surveillance cameras at crime hotspots around the city.

Elicker said that, now that the city has awarded Utility Communications, Inc. the camera-expansion contract, city attorneys must now finalize the language of the contract itself before both parties sign on the dotted line.

“It’s going to be over phases,” Dominguez said about the citywide camera rollout. ​“It’s probably going to be many years.”

Asked for a more specific timeline for this project on Monday, Elicker demurred.

“Because I don’t want an article every other week saying that we’re behind our timeline,” the mayor said, ​“there’s not a timeline” for this project. ​“We’ll work as fast as we can.”

Click here for a story about how it took the Elicker Administration more than three months to put up a job posting for police chief amidst an ongoing national search for a new permanent police chief. Click here, here and here for stories about how it’s taken the Elicker Administration a year and a half and counting to start a pilot for a non-cop crisis response team. That long-delayed project still does not have a new projected start date for its pilot.