State’s Attorney Snags Another Asst. Chief

Racheal Cain has become the third top New Haven cop in four months to retire and take a job with the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office.

Cain, an assistant chief, has put in for retirement after 21 and a half years on the force to take the new post. Thursday is her last day at 1 Union Ave.

She follows in the footsteps of fellow Asst. Chief Herb Johnson, who retired this spring to take a job with the state’s attorney …

.. and who followed in the footsteps of former Chief Anthony Campbell, who retired in March to take a post with the state’s attorney. (Campbell has since moved on to become assistant chief of the police department at Yale University, where he earned undergraduate and divinity degrees.)’ Another assistant chief, Luiz Casanova, retired last month.

And joining her in the state’s attorney’s office is another former New Haven assistant chief, Al Vazquez, who retired from the city department in 2016.

Unlike some of the many other cops leaving New Haven’s department, Cain said uncertainty over the police contract did not factor into her decision to retire. Rather, she was ready for a new challenge.

She’s leaving feeling great about having worked for the NHPD, she said.

“If I had been a police officer anywhere else in this country, I don’t think I would have been able to work with so many wonderful people. I mean that in house and in the community. I would never have met so many people who care so much about the community they live in,” Cain said.

“I’ve been here for almost 22 years. A part of me would love to stay another 10 years. But I think a part of me wants to move on and help in a different capacity — bring what I learned at the police department, what I learned at the FBI academy, and bring it to a different division. And learn something too.”

Among her many duties as assistant chief, Cain oversaw the adoption of body cameras for all officers.

She also testified before the state legislature this past session in favor of allowing New Haven to recoup more training costs when other departments snatch young cops.

Her departure means that a fully new team of assistant chiefs is moving in to the third-floor suite at 1 Union Ave. under Otoniel Reyes, whom Mayor Toni Harp has tapped to become the next chief. Reyes has tapped Renee Dominguez, Karl Jacobson, and Herb Sharp (pictured below) to become his new assistants.

Cain called the changing of the guard ​“a good sign for the police department.”

“The new people coming up are going to bring new ideas and energy to the younger people in the department,” she predicted.

Al Vazquez, meanwhile, begins working at the state’s attorney office this Friday.

“I miss New Haven. I love New Haven. My heart’s always been in New Haven,” Vazquez said Monday. ​“I’ve been away for three years. I want to get back to doing good work for the community.”

New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin said Monday that he feels lucky to have experienced top New Haven cops in his office.

“They bring a lot of institutional knowledge and experience. I’ve been very lucky. I think we’ve gotten some excellent new inspectors in the office,” Griffin said.

“At 3 o’clock in the morning, we’re at the scene of many of these incidents. If you are one of the police departments in my jurisidiction, if you see Racheal Cain or Al Vazquez showing up, you know they have real substance.”