Casanova’s Supporters Swing Back

A day after black clergy and cops attacked Assistant Police Chief Luiz Casanova for his treatment of a black officer, Casanova’s supporters rallied in his defense — and decried a ​“smear campaign” ​“rigged” to prevent him from becoming the chief.

The rally in front of the Cinque memorial outside City Hall drew some 75 immigration-rights activists, civil rights activists, current and retired Latino cops, and Fair Haveners who recalled working well with Casanova since his days as their neighborhood’s district manager.

It was the latest instance of how a minor episode involving Casanova has mushroomed into a political brawl that people fear could threaten relationships between Latinos and African-Americas both within the police department and in the community at large.

Speakers at the rally decried a press conference held Tuesday by black leaders (scroll down in the story to read more about that) who called on Mayor Toni Harp to cease the search process for a new chief and name Interim Chief Anthony Campbell the permanent chief. They made the call in light of Casanova’s berating a black officer as a ​“fucking mope” and initially denying him union representation at a conversation about it. (Harp refused the group’s call, saying the process will continue as planned.)

Campbell suspended Casanova for one day for ​“conduct unbecoming an officer” in the incident.

Casanova is Hispanic, Campbell, African-American. Both are seeking to become the permanent chief of the department.

At Wednesday’s rally, State Rep. Juan Candelaria questioned ​“the motives” behind Casanova’s suspension.

“Yes, he used a poor choice of words,” Candelaria remarked. ​“But should he be crucified?”

He said the black clergy’s and cops’ call for Campbell to be made chief ​“revealed” a larger motive in the incident: to assassinate Casanova’s character in order to put him out of the running for chief. He called Campbell and Casanova ​“two great candidates. Let’s let the process be a transparent process.”

He added that he believes Campbell should have recused himself from investigating Casanova’s conduct since both are rivals for the chief’s job.

“Let us not allow ourselves to be pitted against each other,” remarked retired principal and Board of Education member Alicia Caraballo, who said she fears that a ​“smear campaign” against Casanova could divide blacks and Latinos. She told Casanova — who did not attend the rally — ​“You are loved and supported.”

Attorney and activist Michael Jefferson echoed the racial unity theme. Without naming the Rev. Boise Kimber, who organized and headlined the Tuesday anti-Casanova event, Jefferson responded to Kimber’s remarks. ​“You are entitled to support whoever you want for chief. You are not entitled to ruin a man’s reputation,” Jefferson said. ​“There are dark forces aligned against both communities [black and brown]. They couldn’t have planned this thing better to divide us. We don’t have time for these petty disputes.”

“I don’t care what color the next chief is, as long as he or she is a good chief of police,” Jefferson continued. ​“I’m tired of racial politics.”

Anti-police-brutality activist Barbara Fair compared Casanova’s suspension over an injudicious remark to the failure of the department to discipline most cops who allegedly commit violence against citizens. She brandished a list distributed by the Board of Police Commissioners of the eight most recent citizen complaints investigated by the department, including one in which her daughter alleges that an officer dragged her form her car and mistreated her. The department exonerated all but one of the accused officers in those cases, including the one involving her daughter.

After the rally, immigrant-rights activist John Lugo led some of the demonstrators up to the mayor’s office to demand a meeting with Harp. Harp wasn’t in the office. Her aide, Andrea Scott, gave them an appointment for next Thursday at 2 p.m. Meaning discussion of this matter will continue.

Following is an earlier version of this story.

Casanova Controversy Heats Up

Black cops and clergy Tuesday criticized an assistant chief for dubbing an officer a ​“fucking mope” and called on the mayor immediately to name a rival the permanent police chief — a call the mayor then rejected.

That was the latest fallout from a recent incident in which Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova allegedly twice called a beat officer a ​“fucking mope” for the manner in which he wore his department-issued knit cap outside a Hill neighborhood substation, then initially denied his request for union representation at a follow-up meeting about it.

Interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell Monday suspended Casanova for one day over the incident, on charges of ​“conduct unbecoming an officer.” Casanova’s lawyer, Norm Pattis, blasted the suspension and said they’re considering legal action over it.

On Tuesday, Casanova (pictured) made his first public remarks since the suspension, on WNHH radio’s ​“Kica’s Corner” program, hosted by Kica Matos, who has organized a support rally for him planned to take place outside City Hall Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Matos began the program by calling Campbell’s decision to suspend Casanova a ​“bizarre overreaction” and a ​“horrible scandal.” Casanova refrained from directly addressing the incident, speaking instead about his philosophy of community policing and his 20-year career on the New Haven force. He said ​“real community policing” involves ​“building trust … and relationships” and ​“really listening to the community,” treating the community with ​“respect and dignity.”

“We need to listen to each other. We need to respect each other,” Casanova said. He said that if he becomes the next chief he would focus on ​“getting back to real community policing” and ​“refining it”: It’s not enough to have events with ​“cops giving ice cream to kids on the beat. That’s great. … Let’s keep our young people out of prison by providing diversionary alternatives.” And he would include ​“all city departments in community policing.”

Two hours before that radio appearance, a group of black clergy and leaders of two African-American police organizations — the Silver Shields and the Guardians — held a press conference on City Hall’s second floor to criticize Casanova’s behavior toward the beat cop. The officer Casanova chewed out is black. Casanova is Hispanic.

Some African-American officers have described ​“mope” as a racially charged epithet. But at the press conference, the Rev. Boise Kimber, who organized it, said critics weren’t repeating that claim. Instead, he and others criticized Casanova for speaking disrespectfully to the officer, in a manner Casanova himself and other supervisors tell their cops to avoid. They characterized ​“fucking mope” ( without using the first word in phrase) as demeaning language.

“[I]n law enforcement circles the connotation is of an uneducated, unsavory individual who does more to detract from than to contribute to the good of society,” Kimber stated. ​“Used with this meaning, the word is derogatory, belittling and thoroughly dehumanizing to anyone whom it is used to describe. It is for this reason that recent recruit classes at the new Haven Police Academy, which falls under Assistant Chief Casanova’s authority, have been admonished to refrain from using the term under any circumstances.”

Still, there was an undeniable racial aspect to the event: The speakers called for Harp to suspend the current search process for a new police chief and make interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell’s position permanent. Campbell is African-American. Meanwhile, Latino leaders have been organizing meetings recently to call for more appointments of Hispanics to city government leadership posts. They planned a Tuesday afternoon press conference, in part to respond to remarks Kimber made recently on WNHH radio about immigration.

Speakers at the press conference depicted Casanova’s remarks as unbecoming a department leader — and Campbell’s ​“swift action” in disciplining him evidence of his fitness to lead.

“He has earned the respect of those he served and those who serve with him,” Charles Wilson, president of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers (NABLEO), said of Campbell.

Several speakers also criticized attorney Pattis for calling Mayor Harp a ​“mope” in a blog post about the Casanova incident.

Then the clergy and cops swept into the mayor’s conference room to meet with Harp about their demand.

Meanwhile, Pattis happened to be on a sidewalk across from City Hall.

Told of the criticism over his calling Harp a ​“mope,” Pattis responded: ​“They must have gotten dumber when they got together to plan those remarks. What I really should say is, ​‘Thanks for reading, guys.’”

He said the clergy’s call for Campbell’s immediate appointment ​“explains it all. They’ve isolated Casanova. Now give us what we want,” i.e. Campbell’s permanent appointment.

A dozen or so of the black clergy and cops met with Harp for 15 minutes after the press conference.

Afterwards she said she will not suspend the search process and name a new chief now. ​“We’re sticking to our process,” she said.

Click on or download the above sound file to hear the full interview with Luiz Casanova on WNHH radio’s ​“Kica’s Corner,” which featured talk about Casanova’s career and his philosophy of community policing.