Chief Moves To Fire 4 Cox Case Cops

Police Chief Karl Jacobson has recommended that four city police officers be fired for their roles in the mishandling of Richard ​“Randy” Cox, roughly nine months after the 36-year-old New Havener suffered paralyzing injuries while in police custody.

Jacobson announced that decision in a Tuesday afternoon press conference held on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

With Asst. Police Chiefs Bertram Ettienne and David Zannelli and newly promoted Lt.-to-Asst. Chief Manmeet Colon at his side, Jacobson said that he has submitted recommendations to the Board of Police Commissioners that Sgt. Betsy Segui and Officers Oscar Diaz, Jocelyn Lavandier, and Luis Rivera be terminated from their employment with the New Haven Police Department (NHPD).

He has issued that recommendation after the department’s Internal Affairs (IA) division wrapped up its months-long investigation of the roles that those officers and now-retired Officer Ronald Pressley played in the June 19, 2022 arrest and handling of Cox. Jacobson said that the IA investigation found that all five police officers violated a number of department general orders, including rules of conduct that require city cops to be law abiding and work with integrity, trustworthiness, courtesy, and respect. 

The IA investigation also found Diaz violated department general orders related to his driving of the police van and being on his cellphone, and it found that Segui violated additional orders related to her supervision of the police detention center. 

The IA investigation concluded on March 6, and Jacobson had Loudermill hearings with the officers on March 17 and March 20. Jacobson said that each of the four officers whom he has recommended firing should appear before the police commission for their own individual disciplinary hearings likely towards the end of April.

He noted that Pressley cannot be fired or otherwise disciplined for violating department conduct, since he formally retired in January.

Jacobson added that he plans to discipline two other officers for their roles in Cox’s arrest. Those disciplines will be under 15 days each and therefore won’t require a referral to the Police Commission. Asked during Tuesday’s press conference for the names of those two additional officers who will be disciplined, Jacobson said they are identified in the IA investigation report — for which the Independent has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for and has yet received by the publication time of this article. He also said he has not yet had Loudermill hearings with either of those two officers.

All of this comes as Sgt. Segui and Officers Diaz, Lavandier, and Rivera — who are all on paid administrative leave — and now-retired Officer Pressley continue to make their way through individual criminal court cases. Each has been arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of​“cruelty to persons.” All five arrested cops have pleaded not guilty to those charges.

“The message to the community is: We will be transparent, and we will be accountable, and we will hold our officers accountable,” Jacobson said on Tuesday. ​“The message to the officers is this administration does have your back and mistakes do happen, but we will not treat this community disrespectfully as happened in the Randy Cox situation.”

Asked why he has moved to fire these four city cops before the conclusion of their respective criminal court cases, Jacobson replied, ​“Because we had enough evidence from the internal investigation. I think the days of waiting for criminal cases to conclude needs to stop. That’s one of the things that the community has asked us to do,” to be ​“transparent, accountable, swift.”

“This is not swift,” he continued. ​“This has been nine months.”

In a followup email comment sent to the Independent on Tuesday afternoon, attorney Gregory Cerritelli, who is representing Sgt. Segui in her ongoing criminal court case, said, ​“I am not surprised by the chief’s recommendation of termination and I fully expect these four officers to be fired. There is no due process at this stage of the proceedings and the entire process lacks fundamental fairness. Interestingly, the chief announced over 50 policy changes within the department, including seat belts in prisoner conveyance vans, and changes in transportation, detention, and additional officer training. It is obvious to even a casual observer that these officers are being used as scapegoats for a department that had, and has, woefully inadequate training and policies.”

In a separate email comment, attorney Matthew Popilowski, who is representing Officer Diaz in his ongoing criminal court case said, ​“The decision to terminate these officers is wholly premature. The internal affairs process does not afford officers due process and the Chief’s belief that they have enough evidence does not change that. We ask officers to risk their lives and show up to work wearing their badge and uniform every day. The least we can provide officers is to let their cases process through the judicial system.”

Tuesday’s announcement came roughly nine months after police arrested Cox on weapons charges without incident at a Lilac Street block party on June 19, 2022. En route to the police station, Officer Diaz, the driver of a prisoner conveyance van, slammed on the brakes to avoid crashing into another vehicle at the intersection of Division and Mansfield Streets. That abrupt stop sent Cox flying head first into the wall of the van, injuring his neck and spine. The driver of the van later called for medical help but, instead of asking for an ambulance to come to the scene, the driver proceeded to take Cox to the detention center at 1 Union Ave. There, rather than waiting for a medical crew to attend to Cox’s crumpled and paralyzed body, officers at the police lock-up accused Cox of lying, demanded he stand up, pulled him out of the van, placed him in a wheelchair, then dragged him across the floor into a cell. The case sparked national outrage.

Cox’s family, represented by national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, subsequently filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against the city, the police department, and the involved officers seeking damages for the officers’ alleged violations of Cox’s civil rights. That case continues to make its way through federal court.

In a follow-up Tuesday press conference at City Hall, Mayor Justin Elicker said that the city and Cox’s attorneys have had one settlement conference overseen by a judge in that case. The ​“discovery process has ensued,” he said, with discovery expected to continue through 2024.

“What happened to Randy Cox is unacceptable,” Elicker said at his separate Tuesday press conference. ​“We need to ensure this never happens again.” He said he stands by and supports the chief’s decision to recommend firing these officers.

He and the chief also stressed how, in the wake of the incident, the city upgraded its transportation policies and department-wide training on​“active bystandership” and deescalation in hopes of avoiding a similar future incident.

"Important Thing Is To Get It Right"

After Elicker’s City Hall press conference, Cox’s mom, Doreen Coleman, and one of his local attorneys, R.J. Webber, expressed a small sense of relief that — as they have been calling for for months — the chief has now recommended that these officers be fired.

“It was something that we waiting for,” Coleman said.

“While this has taken some time, the important thing is to get it right,” Webber said.

He and Coleman said that Cox remains paralyzed from the shoulders down and away from home at a rehabilitation facility. Coleman said she visits her son just about every day, most recently bringing him his lunch yesterday.

“He’s doing pretty good,” she said. ​“He’s holding on.” She said her son is still ​“processing” the chief’s recommended firings of these officers. ​“He’s in good spirits.”

In an email press release sent Tuesday afternoon, Crump welcomed the news of the officers’ recommended firings. ​“Randy and his family are encouraged that these officers are being held accountable for their actions resulting in Randy’s horrific, life-altering injuries,” he is quoted as saying in that press release. ​“We are hopeful that the city and police department understand that their actions and lack thereof played a critical role in Randy’s permanent and life-changing condition. These officers were sworn to protect their community, but they inflicted unnecessary and traumatizing harm to Randy, who will pay the price for the rest of his life. Randy prays everyday that he can get into a facility that can provide him the care that he needs to live life to the fullest as a quadriplegic individual.”

"Accountability & Action" Vs. "No Fresh Ideas"

Liam Brennan, who is one of three Democratic challengers looking to unseat Mayor Justin Elicker in this year’s Democratic primary for mayor, criticized the Elicker Administration Tuesday while also heralding the move to fire these officers.

“Chief Jacobson’s decision to recommend firing the officers involved in paralyzing Randy Cox is the right move, but it also comes much delayed,” Brennan is quoted as saying in that campaign press release. ​“The terrible events surrounding Randy Cox’s injuries should be a cause for a full-scale reevaluation of how we conduct policing in New Haven. Instead, City Hall remains out of fresh ideas with an unsupported Civilian Review Board and no appetite to innovate New Haven’s approach to public safety.”

Brennan added that his campaign plans to issue a ​“criminal justice white paper” this month ​“outlining innovative approaches to addressing drug abuse, gun violence, and police accountability. We will never make change by doing the same thing over and over again. When we imagine better, we can make real progress.”

During Tuesday’s City Hall press conference, Elicker stressed that his administration has made important changes to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.

“From day one we’ve been committed to transparency and accountability and action,” he said. ​“Within 24 hours, we notified the public of the incident, within 48 we shared the videos with the press and the public.” He also talked through the ​“comprehensive set of new departmental policies” that the police force has adopted since this incident around ​“prisoner transport, the requirement to ask if individuals in police custody require medical support, including additional training which the entire department has received around duty to intervene and active bystander training.”

“Today,” he continued, ​“is yet another important moment in this process of accountability and action.”