Black Cops Decry ​“Serious Breach Of Trust”

It wasn’t just one utterance of the ​“N word” over the police radio.

Dozens of African-American city cops gathered at the Amistad statue outside City Hall for a press conference Thursday evening to express ​“outrage” over ​“a series of disturbing racially discriminatory incidents” in their department beyond the recent utterance of the racial slur.

Three organizations representing black cops — the Silver Shields, the Guardians, and the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers — organized the press conference.

None of the officers spoke at the event. Instead, they surrounded local civil-rights attorney John Williams as he read a lengthy statement on their behalf.

The statement began by referencing the post-midnight utterance by an unidentified person of the word ​“nigger” over the police radio on Dec. 30 (originally reported here). That incident sparked an immediate internal affairs investigation aided by the FBI.

“It should be very clear the black officers are not just outraged over this once incident,” the statement read. ​“Over the past 18 months, under Chief [Dean] Esserman’s administration, there has been a series of disturbing racially discriminatory incidents that range from blatant officer misconduct to acts of intimidation.”

Esserman said Thursday night that he has been reaching out to local clergy and the NAACP and reaching out to groups within the department in addition to meeting with the black police officers in order to tackle the issue.

“Let me be unequivocably clear: Racist behavior in any form of expression will not be tolerated in the New Haven police department, neither to the citizens we serve nor amongst one another in the rank and file,” Esserman decalred. ​“As a New Haven police officer, I am offended and want to believe most New Haven police officers are offended by such behavior and words. Respect and integrity must be the bedrock of our profession.”

4 Incidents Cited

The black officers’ statement details four incidents, along with assessments of how the department handled them:

• The posting by a white police officer of ​“racially inflammatory comments on his personal Facebook page,” including a description of a high-ranking black female cop as ​“Miss Butterworth” (a slur). ​“For his highly inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, he was promoted to detective and assigned [to] the Bureau of Investigation in charge of processing evidence vital to major investigations,” the statement charged.

Esserman responded Thursday night that the ​“Miss Butterworth” comments had not been brought to his attention. When he learned about other racist statements the officer had posted, he said, ​“I sat with him and confronted him with what he had done and passed him over detective promotion until help was sought” for personal problems. ​“He was not promoted for his behavior,” Esserman said. ​“He was held back from promotion for his behavior until treatment was sought.” The officer became a detective in a subsequent round of promotions.

• The etching of a swastika on a police car parked in the underground garage at headquarters, which is not publicly accessible. ​“Over 30 officers were investigated by Internal Affairs, but the outcome remains unknown,” the statement read.

• Remarks that a white male sergeant made three months ago in front of a black female civilian staffer at the front desk at 1 Union Ave., police headquarters. The statement charges that Chief Esserman told representatives of black officers at a Jan. 27 meeting that ​“he had disciplined the sergeant,” which turned out not to be true.

Esserman said that he did file disciplinary charges before the Board of Police Commissioners, where the matter is now pending. ​“The case was fully investigated. Statements were taken and interviews conducted by internal affairs. Charges were filed.”

• The Dec. 30 ​“n word” incident. The statement charges that Esserman waited until the Jan. 27 meeting with black officers before airing the issue within the department for needed discussion. Before that, ​“the incident was kept so quiet that it was thought to be a rumor.” Esserman subsequently addressed line-ups about the issues, held several meetings with department supervisors, and, in conjunction with Mayor Toni Harp’s administration, implemented expanded sensitivity training for all officers beginning this week.

Esserman responded that he believes the Guardians and Silver Shields ​“were correct” in urging him to address roll call and discuss the issue openly within the department. He said he took action within hours of the Dec. 30 incident by initiating an internal affairs probe, then bringing in the FBI when the trail went cold.

“A Bubbling Up”

Individual officers at the press conference Thursday said they were under a strict agreement not to comment publicly on the matters at hand.

The groups’ statement also decried ​“selective discipline” of black officers as well as a ​“significant lack of representation of black officers in the department’s command staff.”

“There has been a bubbling up for a while,” remarked one African-American beat cop. ​“People want to be heard.”

The groups’ statement does not identify specific remedies beyond a final request that ​“Mayor Toni N. Harp … give these issues her immediate attention.”

Harp met with members of the groups recently to discuss the matter. She told the Independent this week she believes that Chief Esserman (pictured) is handling the matter appropriately; she said she is ​“excited” about the expanded sensitivity training. ​“We’re a multicultural city,” she said. ​“If you’re not comfortable with that, perhaps you should” work elsewhere.

Harp also said her administration is finalizing paperwork to renew his contract, which expired this month.

Harp issued the following written statement Thursday evening about the officers’ press conference:

“I take the concerns of these African-American police officers very seriously, as I would the concerns of any police officer who comes forward with an issue about a potentially hostile work environment. My concern is compounded, however, to the extent any pattern of harassment or racism is identified, and warrants an important conversation about cultural sensitivity and awareness. That conversation is now taking place internally at the New Haven Police Department and also between the police department and my administration.”

The concerns of the black officers was the subject for the second week Thursday of a private discussion with the chief and department supervisors following the weekly data-sharing CompStat meeting at headquarters.

Chief Esserman also met recently with representatives of the Latino police officers’ group. The Latino officers did not participate in Thursday’s event,

“We are outraged that someone would do this,” Lt. Tony Reyes, head of the Latino officers group, said of the ​“n word” incident. ​“The administration has demonstrated sensitivity and taken swift and appropriate action.”