Allan Appel File Photo
Lt. Colon on the job in Newhallville.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson has tapped Lt. Manmeet Colon to serve as an assistant chief.
The Board of Police Commissioners is scheduled to vote on Jacobson’s recommendation at a meeting Tuesday night.
If approved, Colon will join Bertram Ettienne and David Zannelli as number-two cops in the chief’s suite. Her first assignment will be to oversee the patrol division while Zannelli (who currently does that) spends two months in training at the national FBI academy.
Jacobson said he’s hoping the commissioners approve the appointment, based on Colon’s accomplishments in the department and her “philosophy of how the police and the community should interact” in a way that promotes respect and trust.
“She gets it,” Jacobson said.
Paul Bass File Photo
Colon in 2013 guiding a 6-year-old girl onto a scale as part of registering children for an Amber Alert database.
Colon, a 37-year-old Mumbai native who moved with her family to Queens when she was 11, graduated from the police academy in December 2008. She studied criminal justice at the University of New Haven.
She started walking a beat in the Hill. She worked her way up through the ranks, including overseeing the detective division’s robbery and burglary unit, investigating sexual assault and family violence cases for the Special Victims Unit, working on recruitment and background checks, serving as district manager in Westville, Dixwell, and then Newhallville/ East Rock, and running internal affairs (her current assignment).
Jacobson said he hopes Colon’s appointment will inspire more women to join the NHPD, which is currently 17 percent female. The department’s goal is “30 by 30” — 30 percent female by 2030.
Colon (nee Bhagtana) said she also hopes her status as the department’s first Indian-American assistant chief inspires others from similar backgrounds to pursue careers in law enforcement.
“I come from a Sikh family. I speak Punjabi. I’m very proud of my heritage,” Colon said.
“More important is the mission and the values of the department. To me, it’s all about being fair and impartial. My background, my morals, my family values and traditions … I feel like I bring a lot to the table. I’m glad there’s a space for me at the table.”