Nightclub owners were displeased to learn they’ll no longer get to pick the cops who guard their doors.
Some two dozen downtown clubowners and representatives got the news Tuesday afternoon at a meeting with cops in the Omni Hotel’s second-floor Temple Room.
The occasion was a monthly meeting of a Town Green Special Services District-convened Nightlife Task Force — a meeting that assumed urgency in the wake of the Nov. 28 murder at the Sinergy club on Crown Street.
The talk about that murder took a back seat after Assistant Chief Kenneth Gillespie informed the group that as of January, club owners will no longer get to choose which extra-duty cops work security.
That’s because an arbitrator recently ruled in favor of city officials seeking the end of the so-called practice of “hold-downs.” The practice allows private clubowners to choose one cop to decide which other cops get to work extra-duty jobs.
Police Chief James Lewis raised the issue in contract negotiations this fall. He said he was startled by a practice that produced manifold potential conflicts of interest. Police Union President Louis Cavaliere sought to preserve the practice, which he said has been in effect for 40 years. The issue went to arbitration. A panel of three abitrators ruled that the issue is not negotiable. That means the union lost.
“Officers will no longer control the hold-downs at the clubs. It was a police command nightmare. I was shocked when I got here” and discovered it, Assistant Chief Gillespie told the clubowners Tuesday.
Gillespie said police department supervisors will determine whom to assign to which clubs for extra-duty work. The department is still working on details; the new system should debut in January.
“You could be putting the town in jeopardy by doing that,” responded Jason Cutler (at left in top photo), who co-owns Center Street Lounge.
“Clubowners may think twice about putting a cop on if Joe Schmo is on” duty instead of a cop with whom owners are familiar, Cutler claimed.
“Sir, that’s your decision as a business owner,” responded Gillespie (pictured), who oversees patrol operations for the police department. “I’ve not seen this [practice] any place else.”
“They know your establishment. Your regulars. Your security guard. They know your crowd, who you don’t want here. It’s a safety issue,” agreed Andrew Beham (pictured), who manages 5 Senses across Crown Street from Sinergy.
Lt. Rebecca Sweeney, downtown’s top cop, offered a prediction: Cops who agree to take on extra-duty jobs will form a self-selecting group up to the work.
“Let’s be honest: I’m not standing outside Sinergy,” she said. “I’m not standing outside Gotham.”
“We’re going to end up having officers who prefer certain jobs working certain jobs,” said Gillespie, who came to New Haven from California along with Chief Lewis in 2008. He said he has seen similar set-ups work well elsewhere.
In a subsequent interview, Lewis enumerated the many potential conflicts he sees in the current hold-down system: Lower-ranking officers can have a hold-down at a given club. They can end up doling out extra-duty work to their supervisors, who then may be compromised in holding the cops accountable in regular duty. Favoritism may prevent some cops from getting as much work as other cops. (Officers can earn $20,000 to $30,000 a year on extra-duty jobs.) The police department doesn’t choose which officers work at clubs, but is legally liable if those officers misbehave; taxpayers are liable for injuries brought about by a cop hired privately. And above all, an officer is hired by a clubowner — and then is supposed to hold that clubowner accountable under the law.
“Even without an incident of misconduct, it just appears to be improper to most people,” Lewis said. “In most states it just wouldn’t be allowed.”
City Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts also told the group Tuesday about a related proposed ordinance officials have introduced to the Board of Aldermen. It would allow the police chief to order some clubs to hire extra-duty cops for special events that could cause trouble. The idea is to avoid “penalizing” the clubowners who do provide security.
Smuts invited suggestions from the group for criteria for ordering extra-duty cops. He received no immediate response, but the matter is scheduled to come before a working sub-group.
I think Cutler's comment about "Joe Schmo" cops was way out of line.
I'm glad we're abolishing this practice. It's odd that something which is done no where else is described by the union leader as being no big deal.