Homelessness Inflames The Beat

While policymakers and politicians and activists and boards of nonprofit organizations continued to debate how to end homelessness, Police Officer Christopher Chin had to figure out what to do with Michael.

Right then. In the rain. On a Saturday at 8:52 a.m.

Chin encountered Michael at that time on Water Street. Chin, who patrols Downtown and Wooster Square, had been looking for Michael since the day before, when a video surveillance camera caught him allegedly at the scene of several small fires set in and around Yale during the university’s commencement weekend. Michael was suspected of having lit fires that caused damage to exterior doors at Yale’s Durfee Hall and Street Hall as well as at a non-university-owned building.

Chin had a video still photo of Michael at the scene that had been shared on the NHPD Slack channel. It showed a man with a salt-and-pepper beard wearing a blue pullover windbreaker and green hooded sweatshirt and, around his shoulder, a beige book bag. The man carried a plastic jug and accelerant. Chin had learned that Yale police frequently encounter Michael, who is homeless, and that he is known sometimes to physically attack officers who stop him. Michael also had three outstanding warrants on felony assault and threatening charges; he had six convictions over the past six years, sentenced to three prison stints.

Michael had not turned up at the drop-in center, on the Green, at shelters or other homeless haunts where Officer Chin had searched for him. Now Chin saw the man in the photo crossing Water southbound at the Olive Street intersection. The man was dressed in the same clothes, carrying the same bag.

“That’s the guy!” Chin told a New Haven police training cadet who was accompanying him on his rounds that morning.

“You might want to stay in the car. This guy might want to fight,” Chin added.

So the cadet remained seated as Chin pulled over, exited the cruiser, and approached Michael.

Michael was 10 feet away.

“Sir,” Chin called out. ​“Can you stop and talk to me?” He asked Michael to identify himself.

“Don’t touch me. I know the Fourth Amendment, and I don’t need to tell you anything,” Michael responded, continuing to walk away.

Chin followed, caught up.

Michael had already warned against touching him. So Chin got close, but not too close, he said.

Chin told Michael he matched the description of someone police were looking for.

Michael waded into the traffic on rain-slicked Water, weaving between speeding cars.

Looking To Help

Since he began patrolling Downtown as a rookie cop in 2018, Chin, who’s 33, has gotten used to dealing with homeless people in trouble. He estimates that 50 percent or more of the complaints to which he responds involves the homeless.

Chin, who grew up on New Haven’s Norton and Maple streets, didn’t know that would be the case when he applied to become a city cop.

He hadn’t imagined ever even applying to become a cop when he was growing up on New Haven’s Norton and Maple streets. Chin, who’s Black, said officers often stopped him for no reason. His friends got in trouble with the police; some of them were involved in guns and trouble. ​“Thank God I had both parents, I had sports; I did well in school.” He played football and baseball at Hillhouse. He thought of possibly becoming a sports agent.

Higher ed — first Springfield College, then University of Connecticut — opened his horizons. ​“Leaving New Haven was a culture shock; I didn’t realize I had opportunities” before, he recalled. He decided to pursue a career in which he could help people.

He majored in psychology. Upon graduation, he decided to pursue becoming a cop. Not just anywhere. In his hometown. ​“I wanted to do something better for my community” and ​“give people in New Haven a person who grew here.”

Chin first applied to the force in 2012 and didn’t make it. He spent four years as an electrical technician installing and serving low-voltage alarm systems and home TV theater systems. (“I was in Triple H​’s house.”)

He enjoyed the work. But it wasn’t the dream. NHPD was the dream.

So Chin reapplied again in 2018. He studied hard to pass this time. He did. He earned his badge and began patrolling the center city. 

Soon enough he found himself regularly following up on calls about homeless people causing disturbances or blocking doorways. He discovered what other officers discover: The big problems that society can’t solve — addiction, mental illness, homelessness — get left to cops to wrestle with in small encounters day after day.

Chin said he tries to keep in mind two goals in responding to calls involving unhoused people: To help people who have called police for safety or resolution of a problem. And to help the people who are struggling to survive, who might have found nowhere to lay their head but a doorway.

“We have to have compassion for their situation,” he said. ​“If I don’t have to charge them with a crime I won’t.” Say it’s cold out and someone’s sleeping in an unauthorized spot: Chin said he’ll try to direct them to a shelter. Or he’ll tell them about calling 211.

Sometimes the complaints involve more serious offenses. Like the one about Michael allegedly setting fires that could potentially endanger people’s lives.

"Old Man" Throws Punch

Chin followed Michael through the Water Street traffic. Half walking, half running, he caught up with Michael on the north-side sidewalk.

He put a hand on Michael to stop him. Michael dropped the bag. He made a fist and, according to Chin, struck Chin’s left jaw. Michael assumed a fighting stance.

The blow didn’t hurt. Chin said he didn’t feel physically threatened, either. He could handle it if the man swung again. ​“This old man, I was surprised he even threw a punch.”

Chin radioed for back-up. He didn’t see a need to fight back.

“Yo,” Chin recalled saying to Michael, ​“what are you doing?”

“If I keep him talking,” he recalled thinking to himself, ​“I don’t have to use a taser or hands on him.”

A Yale "Appointment"

Michael’s mother Michelle also struggles to find the best way to approach him.

Michelle is around Yale, too. She works there, in a union job.

She had run into Michael the same day as the alleged arsons. He told her he had an ​“appointment” at Yale. She could tell something might be up.

“Michael’s only person he has in New Haven is me,” Michelle said in a conversation with the Independent. He started getting in trouble in his teens, hanging with the wrong people. In his 20s he was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He’d live with other people for a while in an apartment, then get kicked out. Michelle invited him to stay with her husband and three younger kids in the house the family owns on Henry Street. He’d stay a while, help care for his younger siblings.

He’d also get in trouble. Once he attacked Michelle’s husband (not Michael’s father) with a knife, Michelle said. Police came, made an arrest. The family obtained a restraining order.

Still, they allowed him back in at times. Michelle said she continually urges Michael to take his medication, often to no avail. Sometimes he turns away from her, doesn’t want to hear it. He has been homeless on and off for more than a decade, she said. She hears from police or others when Michael gets arrested, most recently a month before the Yale arsons.

“He is not a bad kid or anything like that. If he is not on that medication, he is a different person. He is not harmful. I think he was crying out for help,” Michelle said of the Yale alleged arsons.

Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell agreed.

The alleged crimes were serious, Campbell noted: They caused property damage. Buildings had to be evacuated, the fire department called. People could have potentially gotten hurt.

But the fires were lit outside, not inside buildings where they could have caused extensive damage, Campbell noted. ​“To me this was a cry for help. The way he did it, he never truly put anyone in severe danger. Whether subconsciously or a conscious decision, it was his cry to try to get the help that he needed.”

He said the same about the propensity of people in Michael’s situation to fight with police sometimes.

In his 26 years in policing, Campbell said, he has observed that ​“many people who are mentally ill have issues with law enforcement. They feel those are the people who are going to force them to do things they don’t want to do, even if it’s not criminal: ​‘You need to leave this area. You need to go to a shelter.’

“The one thing they have control over, their own agency, is now being questioned. So they fight. I think this was part of his continual cry for help: In addition to setting these fires, ​‘you’re not going to challenge my agency.’”

The Hope In An Arrest

Within a minute of Chin radioing for back-up, Officer Richard Lennon arrived, followed by other officers.

According to a report Lennon subsequently filed, he approached Michael and told him ​“to place his hands behind his back.” When they stepped closer, Michael swung his fist again at Chin, Lennon wrote.

Lennon then ​“grabbed [Michael] and we fell to the ground.” He and Chin tried ​“to gain control of his arms to handcuff him.” On the ground, Michael ​“wrapped both his legs around my left leg to prevent me from maneuvering further.”

Lennon stated he was able to grab Michael’s left arm and handcuff him. They rolled him ​“onto his stomach and attempt[ed] to gain control of his right arm.” Michael ​“had control of my left leg wrapped with both of his own and would not let go. I delivered two strikes with my fist to his inner thigh as I commanded him to release my leg.”

Michael complied. Officers handcuffed him and arrested him. In addition to the three sets of charges from previous warrants, he now faces three felony arson charges and three reckless burning charges as well as a felony charge of assaulting an officer in connection with the new encounter with police. He has yet to enter a plea, according to the state judicial database, and is being held on $300,000 bond in connection with this latest incident. (He was not reachable for comment for this article.)

New Haven Assistant Police Chief David Zannelli, who arrested Michael back in 2010 on drug charges, praised Officer Chin for his ​“quick action” and ​“reasonable and necessary” handling of being assaulted. ​“When there’s no one else to turn to,” he said of the regularity with which the cops receive calls involving homelessness, ​“it’s the police officer who has deal with it.”

“I hate arrests. But I think this is where arrests can be helpful,” Yale Chief Campbell said of this case. Michael ​“will now through court mandate get the psychological and medical help he needs. He will have a chance to get his mind and spirit right and get to a place where he can mentally process that life is not over for him. Society is not over for him. There are a lot of safeguards in place to help the man. We here in Yale and the city of New Haven are trying to reach out and provide services so that he doesn’t have to have such a profound cry for help by setting fires and fighting with police.”

The city’s new COMPASS non-police crisis team is designed to be one of those services. COMPASS outreach worker John Labieniec told the Independent the group will offer help both to Michael and support to his mother. 

In the process of processing the arrest, Officer Chin was startled to learn that haggard-looking salt-and-pepper-bearded Michael is 32 years old. Younger than Chin.

Chin spoke of how homeless people he encounters regularly tell him, ​“I’m trying to survive today.” Or: ​“Why bother waking up?” Or: ​“I don’t care. I’m a piece of shit.”

“You’re not,” Chin said he responds. ​“You’ve got to start one day at a time.” People in crisis. And the cops who end up attending to them day after day at their toughest moments.

Previous stories about officers on the beat:

• Shafiq Abdussabur
• Yessennia Agosto
• Craig Alston & Billy White Jr.
• Joseph Aurora
• James Baker
• Lloyd Barrett
• Pat Bengston & Mike Valente
• Elsa Berrios
• Manmeet Bhagtana (Colon)
• Paul Bicki
• Paul Bicki (2)
• Sheree Biros
• Bitang
• Kevin Blanco
• Scott Branfuhr
• Bridget Brosnahan
• Thomas Brunski, Trevor Canace, Nick Samartino, Daniel Smith
• Craig Burnett & Orlando Crespo
• Keron Bryce and Steve McMorris
• Keron Bryce and Osvaldo Garcia
• Keron Bryce and Osvaldo Garcia (2)
• Dennis Burgh
• Tyler Camp
• Anthony Campbell
• Darryl Cargill & Matt Wynne
• Elizabeth Chomka & Becky Fowler
• Rob Clark & Joe Roberts
• Sydney Collier
• Carlos Conceicao
• Carlos Conceicao (2)
• Carlos Conceicao and Josh Kyle
• David Coppola
• Mike Criscuolo
•Natalie Crosby
• Steve Cunningham and Timothy Janus
• Chad Curry
• Gabrielle Curtis, Tyler Evans, Justin Julianelle
• Gregory Dash
• Roy Davis
• Joe Dease
• Milton DeJesus
• Milton DeJesus (2)
• Rose Dell
• Brian Donnelly
• Renee Dominguez, Leonardo Soto, & Mary Helland
• Anthony Duff
• Anthony Duff (2)
• Robert DuPont
• Robert DuPont and Rose Dell
• Eric Eisenhard & Jasmine Sanders
• Jeremie Elliott and Scott Shumway
• Jeremie Elliott (2)
• Jose Escobar Sr.
• Bertram Ettienne
• Bertram Ettienne (2)
• Daniel Evans & Ramonel Torres
• Martin Feliciano & Lou DeCrescenzo
• Paul Finch
• Jeffrey Fletcher
• Renee Forte
• Marco Francia
• Michael Fumiatti
• Michael Fumiatti (2)
• Osvaldo Garcia, Marlena Ofiara & Jake Wright
• William Gargone
• William Gargone (2)
• William Gargone & Mike Torre
• Derek Gartner
• Derek Gartner & Ryan Macuirzynski
• Tom Glynn & Matt Williams
• Jon Haddad & Daniela Rodriguez
• Michael Haines
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer (2)
• Dan Hartnett
• Ray Hassett
• Robert Hayden
• Heidi
• Patricia Helliger
• Robin Higgins
• Ronnell Higgins
• William Hurley & Eddie Morrone
• Derek Huelsman
• Racheal Inconiglios
• Juan Ingles
• Bleck Joseph and Marco Correa
• Shayna Kendall
• Shayna Kendall (2)
• Paul Kenney
• Hilda Kilpatrick
• Herb Johnson
• John Kaczor & Alex Morgillo
• Jillian Knox
• Peter Krause
• Peter Krause (2)
• Amanda Leyda
• Rob Levy
•Kyle Listro & Joseph Perrotti
• Anthony Maio
• Dana Martin
• Ashley McKernan
• Reggie McGlotten
• Steve McMorris
• Juan Monzon
• Alethia Moore & Daniel McLawrence
• Monique Moore and David Santiago
• Matt Myers
• Christopher Nguyen
• Carlos and Tiffany Ortiz
• Tiffany Ortiz
• Doug Pearse and Brian Jackson
• Chris Perrone
• Joseph Perrotti
• Joseph Perrotti & Gregory Dash
• Ron Perry
• Joe Pettola
• Diego Quintero and Elvin Rivera
• Ryan Przybylski
• Stephanie Redding
• Tony Reyes
•David Rivera
• Luis & David Rivera
• Luis Rivera (2)
• Salvador Rodriguez
• Salvador Rodriguez (2)
• Michael Rubino and Roberto Talloni
• Brett Runlett
• David Runlett
• Betsy Segui & Manmeet Colon
• Allen Smith
• Marcus Tavares
• Martin Tchakirides
• David Totino
• Stephan Torquati
• Gene Trotman Jr.
* Elisa Tuozzoli
• Kelly Turner
• Lars Vallin (& Xander)
• Dave Vega & Rafael Ramirez
• Earl Reed
• Daophet Sangxayarath & Jessee Buccaro
• Jason Santiago
• Herb Sharp
• Matt Stevens and Jocelyn Lavandier
• Jessica Stone
• Jessica Stone & Mike DeFonzo
• Arpad Tolnay
• Mike Torre & Ray Saracco
• John Velleca
• Manuella Vensel
• Holly Wasilewski
• Holly Wasilewski (2)
• Alan Wenk
• Stephanija VanWilgen
• Donald White, Brandon Way, & David Santiago
• Elizabeth White & Allyn Wright
• Matt Williams
• Michael Wuchek
• Michael Wuchek (2)
• David Zannelli
• Cailtin Zerella
• Caitlin Zerella (2)
• Caitlin Zerella, Derek Huelsman, David Diaz, Derek Werner, Nicholas Katz, and Paul Mandel
• David Zaweski