Paul Bass File Photo
As an uptick in shootings plagues the Hill neighborhood, Police Chief Frank Limon has consolidated the area’s two police districts and put them under one command.
Currently the neighborhood has a “Hill South” district headquartered at the Kimberly Avenue and a “Hill North” district headquartered on Congress Avenue.
On Friday Limon decided to meld the two districts into one, under the command of Lt. Holly Wasilewski (pictured), who has been running Hill North.
The department will reassign Sgt. Richard Miller, who heads Hill South, to an as-yet-undetermined patrol supervisor position, Limon said. Both substations will remain open.
The department has called federal and state officers as well as New Haven’s warrant and tactical narcotics squads to saturate the Hill to try to get the recent outbreak under control. Limon said it’s easier to do that under one command.
“Because of what we’re seeing up there, I want to make sure as chief of police I can go to one district manager and say, ‘What is the problem? How are you using your resources? What do you need?’ It’s easier to measure results when I go to one person. Especially one person like Holly Wasilewski, who has done a great job in Hill North.”
As news seeped out Friday, cops in other parts of the city were concerned about other consolidations. Limon said that the Hill is the only consolidation so far but that he may be looking at others as a way to use resources more efficiently in tough budget times.