nothin Cop Commission Advances Women | New Haven Independent

Cop Commission Advances Women

Staff file photos

Newly promoted Sgts. Lizmarie Almedina, Rosa Melendez, Jasmine Sanders, and Savannah Smith.

Allan Appel pre-pandemic photo

New Chair Evelise Ribeiro with outgoing Chair Anthony Dawson.

Women made strides at the Women’s History Month meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, where a woman was elected chair and four female officers were promoted to sergeant —as the city’s new female chief held court.

That all took place Tuesday night during the commission’s latest monthly virtual meeting, held via Zoom.

The commissioners unanimously voted to approve the promotions of nine city police officers and detectives to the supervisory role of sergeant. Those included four female candidates: Detectives Rosa Melendez and Lizmarie Almedina, and Officers Jasmine Sanders and Savannah Smith.

Later in the evening, the commissioners unanimously elected Commission Vice-Chair Evelise Ribeiro to serve as the board’s new chair, replacing outgoing police commission leader Anthony Dawson. Dawson has served nine years on the commission, six as the chair.

The female officers, detective, and commissioner all ascended to their new higher positions of authority Tuesday thanks to their experience and dedication to public service rather than because of their gender, new Acting Chief Renee Dominguez noted. Still, attending her first board meeting as the department’s top cop, she couldn’t help but point out that March is Women’s History Month, and that Monday marked International Women’s Day.

Thomas Breen photo

New Acting Chief Dominguez: Sgt. rank is now a bit more representative of community.


We currently only have four women in the sergeant’s rank,” in comparison to over two dozen men, Dominguez said. With these promotions, we double that.” She also noted that the new class of sergeants includes two Hispanic females, one Black female, one white female, one Black male, and four white males, just really making the sergeant rank more representative of the community as a whole.”

According to the city’s latest monthly financial report, as of Jan. 31, 22 percent of New Haven Police Department personnel — or 87 of 384 department employees — are female. Those included one of three assistant chiefs, two of 12 lieutenants, four of 36 sergeants, 10 of 49 detectives, and 35 of 231 police officers.

The other five candidates promoted to sergeant on Tuesday are Detectives Ryan Macuirzynski and David Zaweski, and Officers Brendan Hawley, David Stratton, and Ameer Williams.

Da Bomb (Squad)

Zoom

Before voting on the proposed promotions, the commissioners asked each of the sergeant candidates to speak a bit about their experience in the department so far, and on their qualifications to join the supervisory rank.

Melendez, a New Haven native and Wilbur Cross graduate, has been on the local police force since 2008. She is the first woman in NHPD history to be a certified bomb tech. She is fluent in Spanish, spent her first eight years working in patrol all across the city, and later as a field training officer (FTO) supervising new graduates of the police academy. Since being promoted to detective in 2016, she said she’s spent most of her time in the Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Scene Unit, and the past half-year working the evening shift in the Special Victims Unit.

Which of your many assignments has prepared you best to supervise other officers? Ribeiro asked.

Melendez said her experience in the crime bureau honed her attention to detail and organizational skills.” Her time on the bomb squad taught her how to be a liaison between oneself and other agencies, keep lines of communication open,” and master the reporting skills necessary for both federal requirements and in-house reporting rules.

Police Commissioner Tracey Meares (pictured) complimented Melendez and several other sergeant candidates for their work as field training officers, who are responsible for overseeing police academy graduates’ transitions into the day-to-day work of an officer. She described that role as probably one of the most important jobs you can do. … That job makes or breaks the future of the members of the force.”

It can be stressful at times, being responsible for another person,” Melendez said. But it can also be very rewarding and very eye-opening as well.”

Almedina joined the NHPD in March 2014. She too is bilingual, and said that her fluency in Spanish has led to her giving presentations at local public schools.

As an officer, she has worked on cases involving missing persons, sexual assault, and child pornography. She became a school resource officer, working at New Horizons and at Career. She said that as a SRO she did a lot of presentations with youth” about everything from sexting to child pornography to sexual assault, and about what to look for and what not to do, especially when in relationships.”

Since being promoted to detective, she has been assigned to the special victims unit, where she investigated cases involving sexual assault, missing persons, and domestic violence.

Why do you think you would be a good fit for helping local youth and helping fellow officers better understand how best to work with young people? Dawson asked.

Almedina said that, in addition to her work as a SRO and for the special victims unit, she’s also the mother of an 18-year-old who’s about to start college. Having a teenager myself helped me build a rapport with teens at high schools. I understood their troubles and issues they had in high school because I was dealing personally with them at home.”

Sanders (pictured) has been with the NHPD for seven years. She has patrolled the Dwight and Hill neighborhoods for roughly three years. She has served as part of a recruitment team charged with going out into the community, to local high schools and colleges and businesses, to talk with interested residents about the hiring process and encourage locals to apply to join the department.

She also worked as part of the city’s Officer in Residence program, as well as as a SRO at Hillhouse and New Horizons. She’s currently an FTO.

You learn so much about yourself, and about what it’s like to be in charge of other people,” she said.

Smith has also been with the department for seven years, with most of that time spent on patrol, by bike and by foot, in Dixwell and Newhallville. She said she’s most valued that neighborhood work as helping hone her communication skills and resident connections.

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