Top Cop Finalists Picked; Pitch Visions

The finalists for New Haven’s police chief job — who all have experience on the local force — spoke with Newhallville neighbors Thursday night about the need to hire more cops of color and tackle implicit bias.

The panel of applicants for the job included Acting New Haven Chief Otoniel Reyes, retired Assistant Chief John Velleca, New Haven Public Schools Security Director (and retired Assistant Chief) Thaddeus Reddish and retired Lt. Kenny Howell.

Velleca subsequently learned Friday morning that he did not advance to the final round of interviews for the job. Nor did candidates from Baltimore and Chicago. Reyes, Reddish and Howell learned they are now the three left in the mix.

Enough Policing? Too Much?

The four sat on the First Calvary Baptist Church stage for a discussion organized by Rev. Boise Kimber, Rev. Shevalle Kimber and activist Barbara Fair, with questions moderated by WTNH’s Mario Boone. Fifty people, many of them from Newhallville.

Before throwing a mix of softball and hardball questions, Boone asked the candidates to define what community policing means to them.

Reddish alluded to the past of community policing in New Haven, mentioning the original New Haven night watch before the formal police department formed. ​“It’s not a theory that can be studied in college. It’s how you live,” he said.

Reddish lives in Newhallville and used to serve as the neighborhood’s top cop. He said if there was an issue in the neighborhood, people would ring his doorbell regardless of whether or not he was working, to let him know what was going on in the community.

“It’s not us versus them,” Reddish said. ​“You’re part of it. That’s the definition, living how you’re working.”

“I live in a neighborhood where you don’t see the police, and when you don’t see the police things start happening, our officers need to be trained and be present, be seen and be visible.”

Velleca said he disagreed with Reddish. He said the city doesn’t need as much policing, as many cops rounding people up or arresting them for minor infractions. (Read more about his views on that in this article.) Nationally, the discussion about community policing and ​“broken windows” theory underlying it — about addressing small problems before they grow bigger — has evolved into a debate over whether arresting people for small infractions helps solve problems or creates new ones for people.

“In New Haven I worked under five chiefs. Everybody had a different opinion of what they thought community policing was,” Velleca said.

A one-size fits all method does not fit across neighborhoods, he argued. He called for instead focusing on the problem in a specific area, working with a community for what they believe is a solution and using the chiefs’ power and authority to put that plan into action.

Reyes said it’s about empowering a community. Despite New Haven’s progress in cutting crime and attract development, Reyes said he still sees poverty and social ills, problems New Haven cannot arrest its way out of.

He, like Velleca, said there should come a time when the community does not need the police department as much, where instead of officers playing a major role they play a supporting role in addressing challenges.

“The role of police is not just to arrest,” Reyes said. ​“It’s to divert. It’s to empower, [to] make the community more full of vitality.”

Howell said his late mother taught him community policing, by being raised to not judge anyone.

“We can’t do community policing unless you trust us,” he said.

“My cops will be everywhere,” he said. ​“We’re going to be engaged in community meetings. You’re not going to see just the district managers at community meetings. I’m going to groom my sergeants to be those district managers and then you’re going to see the community officers.”

Howell said he will test people at community meetings to name the cops in the area who work their street, and test cops to name three names in their neighborhood.

If they don’t know, that’s a problem, he said, ​“You’re just walking a beat — that’s not community policing.”

Diversity

Around 10 people lined up by the podium to ask questions. Many spoke about the lack of representation of black people in the police force, alluding to the row of district managers in attendance. Most were white. Others questioned the processes of firing officers and shared their encounters with racism with police officers. Several also sought clarification on how NHPD plans to recruit and train their new officers, referring to urban trauma training and implicit bias training.

About 46 percent of New Haven’s cops are black or Hispanic, the audience was told. The numbers can increase with better recruitment, the candidates suggested.

The candidates offered different ideas: Reyes spoke about proposing a cadet system similar to Milwaukee’s. Reddish proposed a Gateway Community College partnership program that would allow New Haven students to receive points in the point system of police applications once they turn 21 while also receiving college credit.

“We have the Police Explorer Program. Correct me if I’m wrong, not one person has become a cop from that program? We’re praising a lot of things here and that’s fine, but we need to do better,” Howell said.

Attorney Michael Jefferson received many nods of approval from audience members when he spoke about being profiled and called for a change in culture, specifically that of implicit bias.

“We all have it, but to what degree? If you’re going to hire people, I want to know what level of implicit bias are you at, how much is in you, and if you’re black how much self hatred is in you?” he said ​“You have black cops that treat us just as bad as these white cops.

“I do not want a chief who’s afraid to deal with the police. I want someone who’s not afraid to be hated by the cops. That’s the only way you can bring about change.”

“A chief can’t be hated,” Reyes responded. ​“He’s got to be respected. He doesn’t need to be loved either, because his men will follow if they respect and he’s got to be feared. They got to know if they step out he’s going to handle it.”

“We Need To Do Better”

Reyes and Velleca hadn’t agreed on everything, especially when the group discussed the firing of officers, which everyone agreed is an extremely laborious and difficult task.

“I don’t need to see the video. I know what’s right. I know whats wrong,” Velleca said.

Striking a balance among the police department, officers and communities is a lot harder than that, said Reyes. ​“Anyone who tells you that that’s easy is lying to you.”

There are biases within the police department and biases within communities, he argued; dealing with those biases are a lot easier said than done. He said the knee-jerk reaction can’t be to throw officers under the bus or throw the community under the bus.

“We all bring something to the table. We all have a passion to do this,” Reyes said. ​“There are a lot of challenges that our communities are dealing with. There’s a lot of change that needs to happen in terms of community police relations.

​“At the end of the day this is raw emotion and we as a police department we got to be willing to listen to this. We can’t say we care about community policing then disagree, listen, this is valid because this is the way the community is feeling.”

Despite the novel opportunity for community members to meet their possible next chief, many seats at the church were empty.

“I would’ve been more satisfied if more people showed up,” said Fair, ​“I guess people only know how to protest but don’t know how to sit down and have constructive conversation.”

Fair encouraged everyone to fill out notepads with the name of the person they feel is best for the job. Fair said she will forward the information to Mayor Toni Harp who she hopes will consider them in her decision.

Paul Bass contributed reporting.