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Lt. Patricia Helliger was set to become New Haven’s first African-American female police captain — until she got into a heated argument with another top cop.
Helliger’s (pictured) promotion was scheduled to be approved at Tuesday night’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting at 1 Union Ave.
At the last minute Police Chief Dean Esserman asked for the meeting to be called off. The stated reason: Officials had failed to properly post an advance agenda.
“The meeting was being adjourned because of an administrative snafu,” Esserman told the Independent Thursday.
Esserman said he planned to put the Helliger matter on hold anyway. “I met with her and the union beforehand” to tell them about the decision to postpone a vote, he said. He declined to discuss that issue with the Independent because it’s a private personnel matter.
According to numerous people familiar with the situation: The postponement stemmed from an incident that occurred last Friday, when Helliger, who runs the department’s records division, allegedly yelled at Lt. Rachael Cain, who runs internal affairs.
Helliger was accused of teeing off at Cain, repeatedly, in a disagreement over who has authority over handling Freedom of Information Act matters. Helliger and Cain, who both declined to comment for this article, have been asked to write their versions of what happened.
The department is looking into the matter but not conducting an internal investigation, according to Assistant Police Chief Luiz Casanova, who oversees internal affairs.
“We as a department have not commented on these personnel matters out of respect to the people involved,” Casanova said.
The police commissioners are expected to take up Helliger’s promotion at a future meeting once this matter is resolved.
The police union has been made “aware of the circumstances” and is in contact with the chief about it, according to union spokesman Marshall Segar. Segar said union officials need to learn more about the episode before deciding whether to take a stand or any action.
As head of the records division, Helliger has been credited with clearing a backlog of hundreds of outstanding warrants with a “safe surrender” program. For years she also coordinated visits by cops from different foreign countries to city schools.
Helliger was the subject last year of an internal investigation into a heated confrontation she had over a parking space in the Route 80 Walmart parking lot with a man whose cell phone she knocked out of his hand. The investigation concluded she’d been in the wrong. Chief Esserman, who faced his own disciplinary matter at the time, chose not to discipline Helliger. (Read about that here.) The police union and several city alders supported Helliger in that case, arguing she was the victim, not the perpetrator.
Somethings never change when it comes to policing. She passed the test, slots is available, she has and allegedly disagreement with another female supervisor and now they have to investigate who word they are going to believe . I see not so hidden racism here. Why don't you go back and review all persons files that got promoted in the pass from Chiefs on down and boy oh boy would the taxpayers get and eye opener, just saying. If you are not part of the "A Team" meaning agree and never disagree with the above establishment no matter how wrong they are then you get promoted.. Certain things will never changed in policing because they carry over what they learned from there predorsessors on how to oppress others that challenge them and will not agree with them. Enough said for today....