Should Whalley Jail Leave Whalley?

Mayor Justin Elicker came to a Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills community meeting with a question: Should the Whalley Avenue jail move somewhere else?

The meeting took place Wednesday in a back room of the Whalley Avenue police substation, where a crowd gathered for an evening town hall with the mayor, convened by newly elected Beaver Hills Alder Gary Hogan.

State legislators are weighing whether to study the feasibility of relocating the Whalley Avenue jail — as well as the Bridgeport Correctional Center on North Avenue — further away from their respective residential communities.

New Haven legislators Al Paolillo, Toni Walker, Juan Candelaria, Steve Winter, Martin Looney, and Gary Winfield proposed the study bill, H.B. 6364, which has now been assigned to the Judiciary Committee.

According to Elicker, the bill arose from a collaboration between the cities of New Haven and Bridgeport. 

“The message of having a prison in a neighborhood is not a good message,” Elicker said. 

The residents present didn’t have an answer to Elicker’s question of whether the jail should move — ready, instead, for a longer-term dialogue.

Neighbors of the facility have raised the idea of moving the jail at community meetings in the past, arguing that its presence implies that Dixwell and Beaver Hills kids are destined for prison.

The jail, known formally as New Haven Correctional Center at 245 Whalley Ave., primarily incarcerates men who are awaiting trial and, due to Connecticut’s cash bail system, are there simply because they cannot afford their bail.

It’s a ​“level 4,” ​“high security” (one level below ​“maximum security”) facility with 686 incarcerated men as of December 2024, according to the state Department of Correction.

Elicker also noted that the location of the jail could be repurposed in coordination with efforts to revive the historic New Haven Armory, which is slated for new life in a to-be-determined form.

There are reasons to consider not moving the jail, Elicker added. One is that due to the cost of relocation, as well as potential hostility from neighbors of any alternative location, moving the jail might not be realistically possible.

He remarked that some New Haven families with loved ones incarcerated in the jail may appreciate its accessibility (including its location on a bus line). And he noted that the city receives Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) funding from the state tied to the jail.

The bill is about ​“exploring” the relocation, he emphasized. ​“It may never happen” — and if it does, it would likely take a long time to come to fruition.

Raymond Hagan raised his hand. ​“To what extent will residents be involved with the decision making?” he asked.

“We’re talking about a really long process,” which would entail plenty of community feedback, Elicker responded. 

“Where it could possibly go is a big question,” he added.