Paul Bass Photo
Officer Ashley McKernan was two hours into her second consecutive shift Wednesday morning when she finally found a moment to fuel back up for the next hours on the beat.
She parked her cruiser outside the WEB (Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills) District 10 police substation in the Minore’s lot at 10 a.m. and paused for a brunch of a Chicken Caprese quesadilla and Mango Magic beverage (energizer added) from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
McKernan, a 28-year-old four-year NHPD veteran, began working the C shift at midnight Wednesday on her regular downtown patrol beat. Then she moved over to work the 8 a.m.-4 p.m. A shift in District 10.
Usually McKernan can break earlier. But it had been a busy 10 hours. Overnight she assisted with a weapons complaint in Fair Haven, then a domestic call in Cedar Hill. Next it was back to Fair Haven, responding to one of two simultaneous car fires in the neighborhood. She took the lead on that one, wrote up the report afterwards.
Moving over to District 10 at 8 a.m., she joined officers in responding to a shooting scene on Norton Street. A 16-year-old Hillhouse student was struck in the arm.
Officers like McKernan have regularly worked double shifts as the NHPD, like police departments nationwide, copes with a staffing shortage.
Younger officers sometimes have no choice but to work second shifts. McKernan volunteered to work the second shift Wednesday.
Same with the midnight shift: Officers usually begin their careers on that shift then get to move to more regular hours. She volunteered to return to the midnight shift.
“I’ve been on midnights for the past year or so,” McKernan said during her brunch break in a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. “I’ve adjusted to it. I have my normal eating schedule and sleep schedule. Tonight in particular the city was busy. When it’s busy, it’s easier to stay awake, when you’re talking to people and interacting with the public.” She said she also enjoys working with the other officers on the C shift Downtown crew; they’ve bonded. She generally catches her zzz’s from 3 to 10 p.m.
McKernan came to New Haven from Oakland, N.J., to study forensic science and forensic technology at University of New Haven. She hoped to become a crime scene investigator.
“I like the science. It’s not just chemistry in a lab somewhere,” she reflected. “It’s out in the field. You’re doing things that are truly making a difference in people’s lives.
“Logistically I like the puzzle piecing of it, solving the crime. It’s fun to solve the crime.”
After earning her master’s, she landed a spot on the New Haven force. That meant starting out on patrol rather than CSI.
She said she’ll never forget the first call she handled on her own. It was a domestic violence complaint on the East Shore involving a young man and a young woman.
“She had unfortunately been very badly injured by this young man, she had bruises.
“She was so scared when we got there. When we left, we got her out of his house, into her parents’ house. She and her family were so thankful because of the way we approached the situation. We didn’t come in cold. We really tried to help: ‘I’m so sorry this happened to you. This shouldn’t happen to you. We want to help you.’ She really appreciated it.
“It was the first time that I saw and knew that I had helped somebody: Oh my gosh. This girl is going to be with her family in her house. This man is going to have get some kind of consequence for his behavior. But maybe because of our intervention he realizes this is unacceptable, and she is in a safe place.”
Until that day, McKernan hadn’t been sure she’d like the patrol side of the job. Now she knew: “It’s where my career path took me. And I said: ‘If I never try, I’ll never know. If it doesn’t work out, like any other job, I’ll move on.’ It just so happens that this has been a really great fit.”
Her dream remains to eventually earn a detective’s badge and land a spot on the Bureau of Investigation crime scene team.
In the meantime, McKernan finished up her smoothie, then headed to the loading dock at the 1 Union Ave. police headquarters, where she would swap in her body camera from overnight so the footage could be uploaded. She would pick up another camera for the rest of A shift, and start rolling all over again. Ten hours down; six to go.
Click on the video to watch the conversation with Officer Ashley McKernan on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s“LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
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Click here and see below for previous “Word on the Street” episodes and write-ups.
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