Robin Higgins had her new sergeant’s badge pinned on her by a groundbreaking local cop — her husband.
It was a family affair for Higgins (at right in photo) on Wednesday, when she was one of 20 city cops to be promoted. Her nephews and aunts cheered as she crossed a new threshold with the help of her husband, Ronnell Higgins (at left in photo). He is an Assistant Chief in the Yale’s police department, the first African-American to hold that post.
Higgins’ promotion took place during a joyful ceremony at Nathan Hale School on Wednesday. The New Haven police department now has seven more detectives, nine more sergeants, three more lieutenants, and one more captain.
“I’m really proud of this group,” said Police Chief James Lewis (pictured), during his introductory remarks to the packed auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve had a good year.”
Mentioning recent statistics indicating that crime fell 10 percent in the first six months of 2009, the chief said he hopes to make the New Haven police force “the pride of the state of Connecticut.”
The chief also mentioned that two New Haven officers have just completed a federal task force operation, serving 29 federal warrants in 48 hours in cooperation with the FBI.
After words of encouragement from the mayor, the promotees stepped up one by one to receive their new shields. Several officers, including Robin Higgins, had their badges pinned on by relatives who are also on the force.
When Higgins’ name was announced, a section of the second row erupted. “Amen!” shouted her nephews Isaiah and Talvin Rogers, clapping and cheering.
“It’s a blessing, yes it is,” said Higgins aunt Geneva Jackson, after the ceremony.
“We’re happy,” said Higgins’ mom, Predency Daniels. She was initially worried by her daughter’s choice to be a cop. That changed when “God promised he would take care of her,” Daniels said.
In all, Higgins was joined by over 20 members of her “family,” she said. That includes “blood family… church family… and work family.”
Apart from family, a number of other well-wishers came to see the ceremony. Mayor John DeStefano drew the audience’s attention to one in particular, asking city tailor Sidney Glucksman to stand up. Glucksman was there to support now-Capt. Leo Bombalicki, whom he met when the then-lieutenant was investigating a shooting in his neighborhood. Their deep friendship is an example of the bonds that New Haven officers have forged with the citizens they work to protect, the mayor said.
After the ceremony, Assistant Chief Ken Gillespie said the new promotions will help the force by adding more supervisors to the ranks. “It’s a very experienced group of officers,” he said.
The new lieutenants in particular will “fill management slots that have been open for a while,” Gillespie said. The new police captain — Bombalicki — will help to ease the burden on Capt. Denise Blanchard. Capt. Bombalicki will take over command of special operations and traffic enforcement.
Those promoted include:
Captain — Leo Bombalicki
Lieutenant — Patricia Helliger, Robert Muller, Stephen Shea
Sergeant — Anthony Campbell, David Guliuzza, Jonathan Haddad, Robin Higgins, Max Joyner, John Magoveny, Nicholas Marcucio, Reginald Sutton, Steven Teague
Detective — Joshua Armistead, Kristine Cuddy, Jeffrey Goodwin, Robert Koval, Rosealee Reid, Carlos Roman, David Zaweski