Officer Cole at Tuesday's police commission virtual meeting.
NHPD images
Officers making an arrest at the CT Financial Center in 2021.
An officer who repeatedly punched an unarmed troubled arrestee in the head until another officer intervened will now supervise fellow cops as a newly promoted sergeant.
That officer, Justin Cole, was one of seven officers and detectives promoted to the level of sergeant Tuesday night during a special online meeting of the city Board of Police Commissioners.
The other newly minted sergeants are Francisco Sanchez, Bryan Phillips, Joshua Kyle, Jarrell Lowery, Jonathan Lambe, and Cherelle Carr.
“This is a diverse group,” city Police Commissioner Mike Lawlor said about all seven newly promoted sergeants, who include four people of color and two native New Haveners.
Lawlor took the lead in interviewing the candidates last week alongside Police Commission Vice-Chair Donald Walker.
“Most of them had these really interesting motivations for wanting to move up to sergeant. I think all the right reasons. It was a joy to talk with them,” Lawlor said.
Walker agreed. This cohort had a “variety of different experiences,” he said, and they “were all highly motivated.”
2 Views On Escalation
The promotion vote came roughly a year after Cole was involved in a controversial arrest at a Church Street office tower.
In that incident, a lengthy commercial eviction dispute culminated with Cole, an officer-in-training, and a man named Shawn Marshall in a scrum on the lobby floor after the officers moved in to make an arrest.
During that scrum, Marshall kicked Cole. Cole responded by grabbing Marshall by the neck, punching him three times in the head, and pepper spraying him. Another officer on the scene intervened to stop Cole from attacking Marshall further.
The arrest sparked a citywide debate about police head-punches, and about whether or not city officers are abiding by state use of force standards.
In September, after a seven-month investigation, the city police department’s Internal Affairs (IA) division cleared Cole of all wrongdoing and found that his actions were appropriate and legally justified. In his interview with IA investigators, Cole justified his use of force by describing his bout with Marshall as an “immense struggle” and by stating that the punches to the head were necessary to gain control of someone who had just assaulted an officer. The officer who intervened, meanwhile, told investigators she thought Cole’s level of force “wasn’t necessary at that time.”
Police Commissioner Tracey Meares.
The incident became a flashpoint in an ongoing debate about the approach to policing in New Haven.
After the IA investigation, Acting Chief Renee Dominguez concluded that Cole had acted appropriately. She decided against not just disciplinary action, but retraining.
Critics noted that the IA investigation cleared Cole’s actions as “justified,” when other departments around the state now require that force be “necessary,” not simply “justified.” The Civilian Review Board questioned the need for the head punches and urged Dominguez to take a second look. “I can’t really get comfortable with hearing reports of officers punching people in the face or head. I feel that there’s got to be another technique,” said Alder and CRB member Devin Avshalom-Smith last year.
Ashley McKernan, the officer who stopped Cole from further beating Marshall, told IA: “I had seen him using his level of force, and I felt it wasn’t necessary at that time. That’s all I can personally remember thinking at that split moment, we don’t need to be doing that, and that’s why I said stop.” She told IA that she did not consider it “absolutely necessary” for Marshall to leave the building; she “looked at the incident as an emotionally disturbed incident” and “did not feel an arrest was necessary prior to the struggle … [T]he police’s presence at the call [was] the catalyst behind Marshall’s escalated behavior.”
Some rank-and-file cops swung to Cole’s defense and attacked McKernan in the comments section of the Independent, echoing the argument Cole himself made to IA: “Officer McKernan was doing nothing. … I felt like … I was in this altercation by myself.”
While the Church Street arrest incident did not come up directly during Tuesday night’s Police Commission meeting, Commissioner Tracey Meares appeared to allude to it as she questioned Cole’s new supervisory responsibilities.
Are you familiar with the city’s new use of force policy? Meares asked. That new policy, which the police commission approved in December, brings the city in line with new statewide standards — and emphasizes that officers may use force only when “necessary,” and not simply because it’s legally justified.
“I think we’re just all starting to receive training on it now,” Cole said about the use of force policy. He said some sergeants received updated training on that policy earlier Tuesday. “I think it’s something that we’re all starting to learn about.”
One of the foundations of that new policy is the difference between justifiable and necessary use of force, Meares continued. “Do you have a sense of the distinction between those?”
Referring again to the training that some sergeants received Tuesday, Cole said, “I think once we all kind of fall into that training, we can really be able to sit here and break it down piece by piece.”
That is a “really important” distinction to know as a sergeant supervising officers, Meares concluded. Cole agreed.
Lawlor also weighed in on the necessary-justifiable distinction after the commissioners had taken the promotion votes. “There’s a lot to be learned here,” he said, about the “important distinctions between justified uses and necessary uses of force. A lot of this is new, and it’s going to require not just training, but thoughtfulness.”
After Meares’ and Cole’s back and forth, Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez said that all city police officers have already been trained in the new use of force policy.
All of that training was done prior to Jan. 1, she said.
She added the training that Cole referred to that took place earlier on Tuesday was more about “administrative stuff,” involving how to file and access certain electronic reports.
Cole has been a city police officer since January 2013. He’s currently assigned to the downtown bicycle unit. He has previously worked in the narcotics enforcement unit and as a field training officer (FTO), serving as a role model and mentor for newly hired officers.
“I’ve really enjoyed being a FTO these past five years,” he said when asked during the commission meeting about why he wants to be a sergeant. “For me, I feel like that great deal of experience I’ve got [in training new officers as an FTO] has prepared me for this next step.”
The police commissioners ultimately voted 4 – 0‑1 in support of Cole’s promotion, with Meares abstaining.
"A Bright Future Ahead Of Her"
Det. Cherelle Carr at Tuesday's police commission meeting.
The other six police officers and detectives who rose to the ranks of sergeant Tuesday did so with the unanimous, and often enthusiastic, support of the police commissioners.
Francisco Sanchez has worked for the city police department since 2012. He’s currently a detective assigned to the narcotics enforcement unit, and has been a canine handler since 2019.
Lowery is a native New Havener who has worked for the department for six years, including in the background investigations unit, in the firearms unit, and as a part of the officer-in-residence program, whereby a city police officer lives on site at a public housing property. He described that officer-in-residence experience as one of the best examples of “community policing, because you’re living in the community, with the community. To be that accessible to the community is a great thing. I honestly believe that’s something that every officer should experience.”
Carr is also a native New Havener who has worked for the city police department since 2012. She’s currently assigned to the family services unit as a detective investigating serious domestic violence complaints. She also lived at a public housing property as an officer in residence for four years.
“I think that this is a perfect opportunity to not only motivate younger officers, but also to have an impact on how some things may function throughout the police department,” she said when asked why she wanted to become a sergeant.
Police Commissioner Mike Lawlor.
Lawlor singled out Carr for praise before the commission voted unanimously in support of her promotion.
“Det. Carr seems like a force of nature,” he said. “I think she’s got a bright future ahead of her. I was so impressed with her enthusiasm, her commitment to our community. I’m very happy that people like she are going to be leading this department.”
Paul Bass contributed to this report.