Paul Bass Photo
Chief Jacobson at WNHH FM: "I think we're having an upward swing."
Karl Jacobson is cheering, not ruing, the latest police recruitment and retention numbers.
That could mean more cops on the streets in New Haven doing more work with the community.
Jacobson, New Haven’s police chief, did that cheering Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
He appeared on the program the morning after the Board of Alders approved a new police contract that finally pays cops in the neighborhood of the pay offered by neighboring communities that have been poaching our officers.
The cops had been without a contract for the two and a half years since Jacobson took over as chief. That lag exacerbated a trend that was depleting the ranks, forcing officers to do more double or triple shirts, top cops to assign supervisors to run more than one policing district at a time, and preventing the department from fielding more walking beats.
The department is currently 60 officers short of filling its 397-member fully-paid positions.
Meanwhile, 17 veterans had signed up to take advantage of an early-retirement program by the end of this year. Another 12 were fielding offers from other departments.
Since the city announced the contract agreement, only five of the 17 went through with the retirements, and only two of the 12 wooed officers ended up fleeing, Jacobson reported.
On top of that, the department is finding new success in attracting new officers: Forty-six recruits have completed the initial testing process and have advanced to the background check phase before entering the training academy. The department had only 23 make it to this point in its previous recruitment period.
In addition to the new contract, Jacobson attributed the improved numbers to a shift back to more public support of police after the public protests that led to a nationwide drop in police recruits and rise in resignations. He’s optimistic about the department’s chance to enter a new phase of growth and innovation.
“There are always pendulum swings in professions, right? I think we’re having an upward swing,” Jacobson said.
Public Order “Accountability”
Also in the “Dateline” interview,” Jacobson said the NHPD and city are working on a revised approach to “hold people a little more accountable” when they do drugs and camp out in front of businesses or create fire hazards and defecate in public places.
As in other cities nationwide wrestling with housing and drug crises, his officers recently have found themselves called to clear homeless encampments and field complaints from Downtown businesses and residents.
In encountering people in dire straits who create those problems, the police will continue to issue a warning at first rather than make arrests, he said. They will continue to call in the non-police COMPASS crisis intervention team to offer the individuals help in finding housing or medical help.
If the person refuses the help and continues causing the problem, officers will issue a citation on the second instance, and then have an arrest as an option in the third case, Jacobson said.
It’s all about balancing everyone’s rights and needs, Jacobson said.
“I think we do a great job offering services in this city,” Jacobson said. When people are “smearing feces in front of businesses, we can’t have that. We need our businesses to prosper. We need everybody to have a safe place to live.”
Click on the video below to watch the full interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” with New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson, in which he also discussed handling political protests, sending supervisors on “C Squad” patrol to connect with graveyard-shift officers, an upcoming plan to equip officers with Narcan, and to=he use of technology to tackle “Kia Boyz”-style youth car thefts. (Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of “Dateline New Haven.”)
Officers clearing a tent encampment on the Green.