by | Jul 13, 2022 4:10 pm | Comments (4)
In the wake of a massive recall of a major infant formula brand, New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is proposing an overhaul to the federal food regulation process: a new Food Safety Administration to prevent food-related illness and contaminations.
by | Jul 13, 2022 1:05 pm | Comments (7)
Spur for change: Key moments of the police arrest, transport, and detention of Richard Cox.
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Police Commissioner Lawlor: Seeking clarity on special order.
What exactly qualifies as an “unstable medical or mental health status”?
And how should city police officers determine that an arrestee has crossed that line into needing immediate medical assistance, as they try to follow a new prisoner-transport policy put in place in the wake of the in-custody injury and mishandling of Richard “Randy” Cox?
by | Jul 12, 2022 8:45 pm | Comments (4)
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Newlly approved Asst. Chiefs David Zannelli and Bertram Ettienne.
Two veteran local cops rose to the rank of second-in-command Tuesday, as police commissioners voted unanimously in support of promoting David Zannelli and Bertram Ettienne to assistant chief.
Continue reading ‘Ettienne, Zannelli OK'd As Assistant Chiefs’
by | Jul 12, 2022 4:37 pm | Comments (0)
Ex-Lt. Tennant.
Nineteen potential jurors walked into a fifth-floor courtroom Tuesday morning — and 18 were dismissed, revealing the challenges of finding jurors deemed fair to hear a case against a former police officer accused of domestic violence.
by | Jul 11, 2022 2:26 pm | Comments (29)
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Matthew Harp and attorney Karen Baldwin Kravetz in housing court.
Outside Renaissance's 46 Auburn St. apartment building.
Damaged bathroom ceilings, cracked walls, rodent infestations, and a host of other city-inspector-discovered code violations have landed two local landlords in criminal housing court — as Renaissance Management’s Matthew Harp now faces a total of five cases, while Ocean Management’s Shmuel Aizenberg has picked up yet another two.
by | Jul 11, 2022 12:24 pm | Comments (6)
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Zannelli (left); Ettienne.
The city’s new police chief has recommended two trusted veteran cops to become his assistant chiefs: David Zannelli and Bertram Ettienne.
Continue reading ‘Ettienne, Zannelli Tapped To Become Assistant Chiefs’
by , and | Jul 8, 2022 5:42 pm | Comments (33)
Maya McFadden photo
Marchers head down Broadway toward the police station.
Dixwell and downtown streets filled with cries for justice Friday afternoon as marchers sought to turn the tragedy of a New Havener paralyzed by police into a spur for structural change in how law enforcement deals with Black citizens.
by | Jul 8, 2022 2:48 pm | Comments (1)
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Attorney Crump on Friday: Police violated Cox's constitutional rights.
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U.S. Attorney Vanessa Avery, with First Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Pavlis, after the meeting with Cox's family and lawyers on Friday.
Richard “Randy” Cox’s lawyers and family delivered a request Friday directly to Connecticut’s U.S. attorney: that her office launch its own investigation into whether New Haven cops violated the constitutional rights of the hospitalized 36-year-old New Havener.
Continue reading ‘Cox Lawyers Press U.S. Attorney For Federal Probe’
by | Jul 8, 2022 2:26 pm | Comments (2)
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Stephan Torquati at WNHH FM.
One story that has stuck with Stephan Torquati about his time as a cop didn’t spark headlines. It didn’t earn him a commendation. No one landed in the hospital. He didn’t make the arrest.
The story sticks with him because it shows how police do their job right. It shows why, as he retires after more than 20 years on New Haven’s force, he leaves with no regrets — and with pride in the profession.
by | Jul 8, 2022 12:06 pm | Comments (7)
Among the many pressing issues raised by the controversy of police mishandling of an arrestee named Richard “Randy” Cox, one has gone largely unspoken: how the stress of the job impacts officers’ mental health.
Continue reading ‘Cox Case Concern: Officers' Mental Health’
by | Jul 7, 2022 4:30 pm | Comments (2)
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John Tubac at HSC's graduation in June.
A 17-year-old New Havener named John Tubac died on Thursday — four days after he was shot and injured in Fair Haven, and less than a month after he graduated from High School in the Community.
Continue reading ‘HSC Graduate Dies After Fair Haven Shooting’
by | Jul 7, 2022 3:06 pm | Comments (9)
Maya McFadden Photos
New officers at Wednesday’s police academy graduation.
Call her Officer Mom: Maxine Wright with her four children.
When Maxine Wright discovered her youngest son was afraid of cops, she decided to change that — by becoming a New Haven police officer.
Continue reading ‘21 Cop Cadets Graduate With "Respect" Charge’
by | Jul 7, 2022 1:43 pm | Comments (17)
Richard "Randy" Cox in prisoner transport van after striking his head: new policy shifts rides to cruisers, with seat belts.
Officers shall not speed — or use cellphones — while transporting seatbelt-secured prisoners.
They shall transport arrestees in the back of police cruisers, not conveyance vans.
And they must ask detainees if they need medical help. If the answer is, “Yes,” then officers must seek out that care on the spot.
Continue reading ‘New Policy Orders Seatbelts, "Medical Miranda"’
by | Jul 6, 2022 2:31 pm | Comments (1)
Key moments in the June 19 incident involving police handling of Richard "Randy" Cox.
As protesters prepare to march through New Haven to demand “justice for Randy” Cox, Connecticut U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said her office stands ready to help if needed.
Continue reading ‘U.S. Justice Department Watching Cox Case’
by | Jul 6, 2022 1:55 pm | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen Photo
Jacobson takes the oath Wednesday.
With a promise to build back community trust in local law enforcement by reducing crime while respecting the residents cops serve, Karl Jacobson was sworn in as the new chief of the New Haven Police Department (NHPD).
by | Jul 5, 2022 9:37 pm | Comments (13)
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Jacobson after vote with board Majority Leader Richard Furlow.
Cops who showed up to support Jacobson Tuesday night.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously to confirm Karl Jacobson to become the city’s next police chief, praising him for integrity, humility, and community connections — and calling him the leader needed at a time when “a healing has to take place between the community and the police department.”
by | Jul 5, 2022 3:34 pm | Comments (4)
Paul Bass File Photo
John Velleca Tuesday at WNHH FM.
The mistreatment of Richard “Randy” Cox reflects two related problems with policing “culture” — and presents a chance to change it.
So argued retired New Haven Assistant Police Chief John Velleca.
Continue reading ‘Velleca: Cox Case Reflects Need For Cop Culture Change’
by | Jul 4, 2022 6:28 pm | Comments (8)
Someone managed to get narcotics into the 1 Union Ave. police lock-up — and a prisoner ended up overdosing.
by | Jul 4, 2022 9:26 am | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden Photo
At the scene of a press conference last week related to the Randy Cox case.
After what happened to Richard “Randy” Cox, New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney said, he has new evidence to support passage of a state law requiring “immediate emergency medical services to an individual who experiences a health emergency” while in police custody.
Continue reading ‘In Wake Of Cox Case, Looney Vows To Reintroduce Medical-Aid Bill’
by | Jul 3, 2022 9:12 pm | Comments (3)
A shooting sent a 5‑year-old boy and his 26-year-old father to the hospital.
by | Jul 1, 2022 4:29 pm | Comments (2)
Laura Glesby Photo
Judge Underhill swears in Judge Nagala Friday in New Haven.
After a decade of prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking, Sarala V. Nagala Friday was ceremoniously sworn in as Connecticut’s first Asian American federal judge.
by | Jul 1, 2022 1:57 pm | Comments (18)
Richard "Randy" Cox in the hospital, connected to feeding and breathing tubes.
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Sgt. Segui (right) with Randy Cox in detention center on June 19.
Two years before Richard “Randy” Cox was arrested, fell inside a police transport van, arrived at the detention center visibly injured, asked officers for and did not receive immediate medical help, and was put in a holding cell anyway, De’Sohn Wilson went through an eerily similar situation.
Cox ended up hospitalized and paralyzed. Wilson ended up dead.
In both cases, the same police officer — Sgt. Betsy Segui — was in charge of the detention center at the time. In both cases, Segui and the officers under her supervision prioritized locking up an arrestee in apparent distress instead of taking his concerns seriously and waiting for an ambulance.
by | Jun 30, 2022 4:44 pm | Comments (14)
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Officers drag Cox's injured body into cell on June 19.
“Training, and complacency.”
Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson took aim at those two concerns when pressed during a public-radio interview about how detention center police officers could have treated a seriously injured arrestee with such disregard.
Continue reading ‘Top Cop Vows To Target "Complacency," As Randy Cox Story Goes National’
by | Jun 29, 2022 11:35 am | Comments (23)
Thomas Breen photo
Crump (right) with Randy Cox's mom Doreen Coleman at Stetson.
Dixwell’s Stetson branch library transformed into a courtroom Tuesday evening, as a nationally prominent civil rights lawyer previewed the case he might make if a jury gets to hear what happened when New Haven police took Richard “Randy” Cox for a ride that left him hospitalized and paralyzed.
“Why don’t they believe us when we tell them we’re injured?” the attorney, Ben Crump, asked aloud. “When we tell them that they’ve brutalized us?”
by | Jun 28, 2022 4:48 pm | Comments (4)
Cox's cousin Octavia Jackson with Mayor Elicker at City Hall.
Cox's family, friends watch Tuesday's mayoral presser.
“Two incidents that were terrible. … Both incidents are not an example of what we want police to be.”
The assistant police chief offered that assessment of how New Haven officers’ treatment of Richard Cox earlier this month compares to Baltimore officers’ treatment of Freddie Gray in 2015.
Continue reading ‘Mayor, Asst. Chief Grapple With "Freddie Gray" Comparison To Cox Case’