Caitlin Emma Photo
When a problem arises, the first person New Haveners should call is their local neighborhood police officer — unless an emergency warrants calling 9 – 1‑1, of course.
Police Chief Dean Esserman (pictured) made that pitch Monday night to 30 people gathered in Dixwell. And when anti-brutality activist Jewu Richardson asked about contacting the chief directly, Esserman fired off his office phone number.
Much of the talk Monday night focused on the chief’s push toward community policing when he addressed a group of people in the basement of Dixwell Congregational Church. Attendees came from all across New Haven to ask the new chief questions and address their concerns.
A large part of the push toward community policing has been the walking beats Esserman has reinstated in New Haven’s 10 policing districts. Currently, two officers walk eight-hour shifts in each of 10 city neighborhoods.
“Community policing means moving into the neighborhood so people can trust you,” Esserman said.
Carol Pollard, who lives in Newhallville, said she hasn’t seen any officers walking on her street. Every time she calls the substation, no one answers.
Esserman said he doesn’t want his officers in the substations.
“The game is played in the field, not in the dugout,” he said.
Barbara Fair.
He said he’s working on getting the staff to work the substation phones by asking members of the community and students from Yale to help out.
And that part about never seeing any officers on the street?
“If you give me your address, I will walk by your house some time,” Esserman told Pollard. The officers have indeed been out there , Esserman said, suggesting perhaps she had missed them.
He also promised that anyone with a question or concern will get a speedy response from their neighborhood’s police district manager.
“Anybody here who wants their district manager to call them, I will make that happen tomorrow,” he said.
Esserman said he’s working on obtaining a grant from the federal government to buy each officer a Blackberry. That, plus personalized business cards, will give New Haveners more direct access to their neighborhood police officers, he said.
“I trust that he’ll be accountable, but that’s him as an individual,” said activist Barbara Fair. Fair and others asked exactly how will Esserman hold his officers accountable? When they’re rude? When they make a mistake? If they abuse their power?
Kerry Ellington (left) and Jewu Richardson (right).
Kerry Ellington said an officer recently flagged her down while she rode her bike around the Kensington Street area. She said he turned his lights on and told her she couldn’t ride her bike on a one-way street. She knew she couldn’t ride on the sidewalk, so she asked him what she should do.
“He told me to get off and walk,” she said. “I’m a woman, at night time, in a dangerous neighborhood? He could have at least said it politely.”
Esserman said the community will have to trust that police officers can evaluate each other professionally when an officer’s work is questioned.
“The number one complaint of officers in the nation is rudeness,” he said. “But I also ask that they be treated with dignity and respect.”
Esserman also praised the police department and the effect new ideas are having on crime in New Haven.
“Today is March 5th,” he said. “And there hasn’t been a murder today. Last year at this time, New Haven had already had four murders.”
The phone talk turned into action after the meeting. Newhallville District Manager Lt. Thaddeus Reddish attended the discussion. He found Pollard afterward and introduced himself.
“I’m actually your district manager,” he told her. The he wrote down his phone number for her.