Nora Grace-Flood photo
Deputy Chief Kevin Samperi, Lt. Timothy Wydra, Chief John Sullivan, Sgt. Nathan Youngberg Monday night.
Hamden’s Police Commission filled one of two empty deputy chief positions Monday night — leaving the other seat open and waiting for an appointment by incoming Mayor Lauren Garrett.
Three long-term Hamden police officers in all were promoted at the commission meeting.
The action followed the retirement of Deputy Chief Boguslaw Kicak on Nov. 20. Capt. Kevin Samperi, who has worked in Hamden since 1993, with two years in North Haven before that, is the newly appointed deputy chief.
Lieutenant Timothy Wydra, hired the same day as Samperi back in ‘93, will fill Samperi’s role as captain.
And Sgt. Nathan Youngberg, who joined the department in 1999, will take Wydra’s spot as a lieutenant.
“I’m very proud of the officers that were promoted tonight,” Chief John Sullivan told the Independent. “I think they’re going to be very important to our department going forward.”
Michael Iezzi, chair of the Police Commission (who joined Monday’s meeting via Zoom), said that the group will meet again on Nov. 29, one day after a new administration is sworn in, while “this commission will still be intact,” in hopes of making an additional promotion to deputy chief.
Retiring Deputy Chief Gabriel Lupo — whom Garrett may or may not replace.
Meanwhile, Garrett said she is in no hurry to fill the second deputy chief post.
Garrett told the Independent that she has used the weeks leading up to her inauguration to form a transition team and meet with departments to discuss capital needs and departmental directions. “There is so much need in the town,” she said, and there are other needs she needs to address before hiring another deputy chief.
Since the commission granted retirements to the two deputy chiefs on Nov. 11, she has also met up with Sullivan to discuss the current needs of the department.
One option, she said, could be to hire an acting deputy chief on a temporary basis in order to “get through the busy season while they have all these shortages.”
She noted the police department’s shortage of patrol officers: The town’s contract with the police union requires that the Hamden patrol division maintain a minimum manning of officers, of which the department is currently down by about 15 officers.
“I would have liked to see more patrol officers hired before those promotions,” Garrett said.
In an early November Legislative Council meeting, Sullivan was granted a $350,000 intradepartmental transfer to account for unexpected overtime costs. He told the council that the department had “depleted our street interdiction division, there’s no one in community policing… one of our SROs is out… our traffic division has been reduced to three officers,” because individuals have been pulled from their positions to fill the minimum patrolling requirements.
On Monday night, Sullivan said that he currently has a list of seven certified police officers from neighboring police departments whom he is considering hiring to fill the patrol seats, as well as a group of non-certified applicants who would be sent through training.
Garrett said that during her meeting with Sullivan, he told her that additional overtime would have to be paid to officers who staff holiday town events, like the turkey collection and donation, the tree lighting, and the “Toys for Tots” gift giveaway.
“I have a problem with people getting paid for what appears to the public to be charity work,” she stated. She said the town should no longer pay for police to staff community celebrations — especially when those events are meant to provide financial relief to residents. Plus, individuals from other town departments, like the library, have expressed excitement about voluntarily working those functions, Garrett shared.
Hamden’s Police Commission meeting in person (and over Zoom) on Monday evening.
Garrett said she believes Monday’s promotions “were rushed in order to take advantage of the current Police Commission.”
During her campaign, Garrett promised to replace current Police Commission appointees in order to diversify the group’s professional experience as well as to bring greater geographic and racial representation to the commission.
She also argued throughout the election campaign that “we need to have newer police officers” rather than have department veterans fill vacant seats in order to build “a police department that is interested in community policing” instead of continuing “old-school practice.”
She did not comment directly on the commission’s Monday promotions.
Force Policy Updated
The commission Monday night also updated the department’s use of force policy for the first time since 2014 to include newly mandated language voted on by the state.
The new policy includes a clearer restriction on and definition of chokeholds. The old orders denied officers the right to use “any chokeholds or neck restraints, with or without a device, that restricts a person’s airway,” unless deadly force is authorized. It now reads: “Officers are prohibited against the intentional use of a chokehold or other method of restraint applied to the neck of another person, including but not limited to, (1) Arm bar hold, (2) Carotid artery hold, (3) Lateral vascular neck restraint, (4) Neck restraint or hold with a knee or other object is prohibited. The use of a chokehold or neck restrain may only be used when the use of deadly physical force is authorized.”
A new general guideline adds that “officers have a duty to intervene and stop any unreasonable, excessive, or illegal use of force by another police officer.” In addition, employee’s responsibilities in terms of reporting excessive use of force have been expanded upon. Three new rules state that “officers who directly observe a use of force that is unreasonable, excessive or otherwise in violation with the agency’s use of force policy and/or a violation of state or federal (illegal), shall contact a supervisor as soon as practicable and inform them”; “Officers who have knowledge of excessive, unreasonable, or illegal use of force against a person shall notify a supervisor and submit a written incident report to the supervisor in a timely fashion”; and “Officers will ensure that there is no retaliation of any kind of any Officer that intervenes against the excessive use of force, reports misconduct, or cooperates in an internal investigation.”
In January, all officers will also be required to take additional classes training them on the updated use of force policy.