New Haven Mayor Toni Harp Friday ascended to a national platform to spread the community-policing gospel.
The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) appointed Harp its Community Policing Task Force committee chair.
Harp co-authored New Haven’s community policing plan in the early 1990s and has promoted it as the city’s current mayor.
“I believe your leadership will help ensure that African American mayors have a prominent voice on the national stage,” AAM President STeve Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, S.C., wrote to Harp in a letter announcing the appointment.
Harp current serves as the organization’s second vice-president. She stated ina release Friday that she ” look[s] forward to the give-and-take and sharing with other mayors about the strategies we effectively deploy in New Haven to concurrently address crime prevention and law enforcement in the city.”