New Haven-Trained Cop Sworn In As Chief

Anthony Campbell spoke as a man of faith — in marriage, in God, and in community — as he was publicly sworn in Tuesday as the city’s first police chief to emerge from the ranks since a parade of outsiders ran the department.

With a crowd of cops and community members that stretched from one end of the first-floor atrium of City Hall to the other late Tuesday afternoon, Campbell’s wife, Stephanie, pinned the gold chief’s badge to his formal uniform. Tuesday was their 18th wedding anniversary. They sealed the capstone moment for their marriage and Campbell’s career with a kiss and flowers, while their three sons watched from the front row.

“You have stood by me for these 19-plus years, through my injuries, through my ups and downs, through my crisis of faith, through innumerable phone calls and me rushing out of the house to go and do stuff for the department,” Campbell said to the college sweetheart who became his wife. ​“You have always been there for me. You are the way in which I see God. And you are the person who led me to Christ. And I thank God for you every day.”

Campbell, the 44-year-old son of a Riker’s Island corrections officer, was selected by Harp to be the 17th police chief of the city after a search committee reviewed 24 applicants. He was among three finalists who interviewed for the job; the other finalists were New Haveners Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova and retired Assistant Chief Thaddeus Reddish.

He succeeds three separate chiefs — James Lewis, Frank Limon, and Dean Esserman — who have moved to New Haven from out of town to run the department over the last decade. Responding to discontent about that fact at Union Avenue and in some political circles, Mayor Toni Harp aimed to change that in naming a new chief. Campbell began his policing career in New Haven and has remained here ever since.

“Make no mistake, we are blessed in this community with a wealth of experienced crime prevention and law enforcement experts,” she said at Tuesday’s ceremony, which followed a private ceremony two weeks ago in which Campbell was legally sworn in.

Anybody who has been around Campbell knows that he is a man of strong Christian faith. So much so that Officer David Hartman, who served as the master of ceremonies Tuesday, noted that when Campbell was nearly killed in the line of duty and while waiting for medical assistance he mistook Hartman for Jesus.

Hartman was one of the officers who assisted Campbell until the paramedics arrived.

“He finally opened his eyes and looked at me,” Hartman recalled. ​“It was a very, very puzzled look. I later understood the puzzlement. After his long recovery, he told me he thought he had died and I was Jesus.” (Click here for a full story about that incident, including how Campbell asked a judge to go easy on the man who nearly killed him.)

Hartman said Campbell’s ​“patience under adversity, his courage and his modesty and success,” have always impressed him.

“We thank you for accepting the challenges you will face ahead,” he said.

In his remarks, Campbell spoke of his faith in another gospel: the gospel of community policing.

The Yale University graduate (of the College as well as of the Divinity School) said the underlying philosophy of becoming part of a community before a crisis, rather than responding after the fact, drew him to the New Haven Police Academy in 1998.

“That simple idea had me,” he said. ​“I’ve implemented it as an officer, modeled it as a supervisor, and taught it to new recruits as well as civilians who have a desire to learn about it.

“In short, I’m a believer,” he said. ​“I’m a believer, not only in the high ideals of community policing but also in the men and women of the New Haven Police Department who animate and give it hands, feet, hearts, and minds.”

In his remarks at Tuesday’s ceremony, Campbell paid homage to the city’s first black police chief, Melvin Wearing, who also hired him, and its first Latino police chief, Francisco Ortiz, and to his immediate predecessor, Dean Esserman, whom he called a mentor. He told the crowd that his job now is to develop the talents of the department’s officers so that they might lead other police departments in the future, as well as to be ready to take the helm from him someday.

“My job as the chief of police is not to be served but to serve,” he said. ​“My job is to work myself out of a job.”

Before he can get to do that, the humble servant leader had to endure the spotlight and the praise of the moment.

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker said it takes a certain kind of person to bring such a crowd of people together. She said it was a testament to Campbell’s character and the respect that he’s earned by climbing the ranks of the police department.

“I’m so happy to take interim off your name and put some respect behind it,” she said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. ​“I’m proud to call you Chief Campbell. I have met few people who have had the type of integrity and respect that you have shown this board. If you just continue to keep God first before all your decisions, everything else will fall into place.”

Annex Alder Alphonse Paolillo Jr. said Campbell’s ​“excellence at every level” made it easy for the legislative body to approve Mayor Toni Harp’s recommendation to appoint Campbell to the chief’s chair.

“In fact, it was so easy that your appointment set a city record,” Paolillo said. ​“It was the fastest approval ever in the Board of Aldermen history. Mayor, I don’t think the next piece of legislation is going to move that quickly.”

Paolillo said it is important to promote from within the New Haven Police Department instead of outside.
​“You received a unanimous vote,” he said. ​“Your leadership style is one that invites everyone to the table. I’ve worked with many chiefs over my 15 years, and your combination of preparedness, compassion, responsiveness, work ethic and level of respect is unmatched. Your actions always suggest this important life lesson: treat others as you would want to be treated. Your work every day is emblematic of that adage.”

Board of Police Commissioner Anthony Dawson said he first met Campbell when the chief was an officer living in a New Haven Housing Authority building and Dawson was an alderman.

“One thing I can say about him,” Dawson remarked, ​“is that he will not ask any man or woman who works for this department to do anything he would not do himself. I’ve worked with all the former chiefs since the 1970s and I can tell you that the best is yet to come.” 

Echoing Alder Paolillo, Mayor Toni Harp said the city is fortunate to be able to choose from a talented pool of candidates, many of them from New Haven.

Harp said Campbell’s successful 19-year career with the police department, his commitment to effective community policing and his willingness to deploy new strategies and technology to advance public safety made him the right choice for the job, but so did something else: his character.

“He knows that right along with a new command comes an awesome moral authority,” she said. ​“And in this regard, I think everyone here will agree Chief Campbell has impeccable credentials.”

Though the mood of the ceremony was celebratory, there was a small disruption that reminded Campbell that while he might be a believer in the police department’s potential to be a model of community policing for the world, there are still people in the city left to be convinced.

Activist Holly Tucker was asked to leave City Hall before she could stage what her mother and fellow activist Barbara Fair said was going to be a silent protest. Fair said that an unidentified officer put a hand on Tucker as she was coming into City Hall with a sign, and said, ​“We ain’t going there.”

Fair said she believes the officer’s action triggered a fearful reaction from Tucker, who is embroiled in a dispute with the department over a traffic stop she alleges turned violent. Tucker could briefly be heard yelling. She ultimately left the premises under the recommendation of her mother.

Sgt. Stephan Torquati, who was closer to the commotion at the back of the room, confirmed that Tucker was advised that the timing of her protest was inappropriate and she left.

Push play on the video below to see Campbell’s address.