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Quinnipiac Meadows alder Gerald Antunes at Tuesday’s hearing.
Police commissioners would have to ride-along with an officer before they start providing oversight, according to a new proposed training requirement that received a favorable recommendation from an aldermanic committee.
On Tuesday night, the Board of Alders Legislation Committee voted in support of a proposed ordinance amendment that would require newly appointed Board of Police Commissioners members complete training within six months. The virtual meeting took place online via the Zoom videoconferencing platform.
The proposed amendment, which now advances to the full Board of Alders for a final vote and can be read in full here, would require commissioners review the bylaws of the department, complete freedom of information guidelines training, review the current collective bargaining agreements of the department, familiarize themselves with de-escalation and use of force policies, and ride along with an active duty police officer, among other requirements.
Quinnipiac Meadows Alder Gerald Antunes, who is a retired city police captain, spoke up in support of the proposal Tuesday.
“How can we expect to change and improve policing in this city, if we do not address the needed changes at the top level of police management?” he asked. “We can’t fix it from the bottom up. It has to be done from the top-down, starting with the leaders and the decision-makers.”
The Board of Police Commissioners is responsible for policy making at the NHPD, and, on the advice of the chief, has input on interviewing, hiring, promotion, discipline and termination.
Antunes said the requirements during training can allow commissioners to better manage and oversee the “professionally trained multi-million dollar agency” which indirectly and directly affects every New Havener.
“When issues come up where they have to make a judgment determination on, it would certainly help if they’ve had at least some exposure there to see what the officer has to go through,” said Antunes while refering to ride-alongs.
Antunes said there is a need for legislation requiring a special training to be completed by police commissioners similar to past programs for training like citizens’ academy and Police Clergy Academy training program.
His favored proposal listed the training’s major goals and objectives as: making the commissioners aware of the police comission’s bylaws, state statutes, the city charter, the NHPD’s goals and objectives, how and why police officers are trained, labor relations and unions, to understand the treatment of officers, and the function of the civilian review board.
Before voting in favor of the proposed legislation, the committee discussed the ordinance amendment’s list of 11 requirements for commissioner training.
Westville Alder Adam Marchand.
The committee unanimously voted to amend the proposal’s “emergency communications” requirement to more clearly refer to commissioners being trained in understanding how the the city’s Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) works. That change was proposed by Westville Alder Adam Marchand.
A unanimous vote was also made for Marchand’s amendment to add to the proposal that the Chief Administrator’s Office (CAO) be able to provide a waiver of training requirements in certain circumstances, for example, mobility barriers for the required police ride-along.
“We certainly don’t want to create physical mobility issue barriers to service because of physical mobility issues,” said Marchand.
Police Commissioner Evelise Ribeiro.
During the public testimony section, current Police Commissioner Evelise Ribeiro supported the proposed legislation and offered additional suggestions for training areas for commissioners.
When Ribeiro was first appointed a member of the Board of Police Commissioners in 2005, she went through the citizens academy program to train for the position and an ethics training. Ribeiro suggested such areas also be required in the legislation.
Ribeiro asked that the legislation include clarification for potential appointees that don’t complete the training or may need additional time to complete the training if due to extenuating circumstances.
Marchand moved to amend that the training also include a theme for commissioners to be trained in ethics and to deal with confidential information, which was approved.
Ribeiro asked who would conduct the training, to which Antunes said a combination of current department officers, city employees, and members who train the NHPD officers.
Downtown Alder Abby Roth suggested Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) training also be required of commissioners.
Before the final vote was made to move the item forward favorably, the committee discussed including an amendment to require enforcement of the training and potential circumstances if not completed. The option to require training before finalizing an appointment is not possible due to the 60 day timeframe of finalizing an appointment after the notice is received, said Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Ferraro Santana.
“So what if it was along the lines of, ‘If it’s not completed in six months, the Commissioner would not be able to vote?’” suggested Beaver Hills/West Hills/Amity Alder Richard Furlow.
“I wouldn’t want to hold up an appointment, per se, but it does create a powerful incentive for an eager commissioner to get that training done if that person is not able to vote anymore until that training is completed,” said Marchand.
The committee opted to instead have the committee’s chair, East Rock Alder Charles Decker, and vice chair, Furlow, contact city staff to see if it is possible to include such an amendment revoking commissioners’ privileges if an appointee doesn’t meet a qualification after the appointment is finalized.
Correction: Am earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the proposed training as lasting six months. The proposed amendment would require training to be completed within six months.
Although I am generally in favor of this type of policy, I think that this will discourage certain well qualified people from volunteering for these positions. These positions are UNPAID, and already involve many hours of time. often confronted by hostile citizenry. Certainly they need to be knowledgeable about policing, but they should not be considered for the position in the first place if they are not reasonable representatives of our city. These boards, for any city department, are not intended to be experts in their field, just ordinary citizens, or peers, so to speak, of the community.