Police Commissioner Tracey Meares and retired police Sgt. Shafiq Abdussabur, a Beaver Hills alder-elect, came out in favor Thursday of conducting a nationwide search for the next New Haven police chief.
Mayor Justin Elicker last week nominated Interim Chief Renee Dominguez to a full four-year term as chief beginning in January. The Board of Alders now must confirm that appointment for it to take effect.
Speaking on WNHH FM’s “Kica’s Corner” program, hosted by social-justice organizer Kica Matos, Meares and Abdussabur criticized the process by which Elicker chose Dominguez.
By law, “Mayor Elicker is entitled to do whatever he wants in respect to appointing the police chief. However my research suggests those decisions will be considered more trustworthy if one uses a different process,” said Meares, a Yale law professor and national policing expert who served on President Obama’s “21st Century policing” task force.
“I think they should do a national search,” Abdussabur agreed.
He also said Elicker should have consulted with Meares and a fellow national policing expert on the Board of Police Commissioners, Michael Lawlor, before making his chief pick.
“I was not asked my opinion,” said Meares, whom Elicker appointed to the board. She said she learned of the appointment the night before it was announced at a press conference.
Elicker said he did have conversations with some commissioners about the future of the department before making his decision. He said he believes Dominguez proved her worth for the permanent chief’s position through her performance as interim chief this year. He said he believes that it’s important to hire from within the ranks when a qualified person has proved ready for the job.
“New Haven has been in the past and should be a nationally ranked city. If you are going to be a nationally ranked city, then one way to think about that is to have a nationally focused process,” Meares argued.
Meares and Abdussabur also spoke of the need for more racial diversity in the department, including in its top ranks. Matos noted that for the first time since 1993, no Black or Latino cops hold any of the department’s top positions — chief, assistant chief, or captain.
Meares argued that union rules make it hard to diversify, because lateral hires from other departments, no matter how experienced, must start over at the bottom ranks unless they’re hired as chief or assistant chief.
Abdussabur spoke about the difficulty Black male New Haveners in particular have passing through the academy and becoming officers if they apply to the department.
Click on the video at the top of this article to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Kica’s Corner.”