Finnegan Schick Photo
Cruz (at center) at an East Shore community meeting before his transfer.
New Haven police reassigned a sergeant running the East Shore district because an alder there objected to having a Latino in charge of the neighborhood, a state human rights agency has concluded.
The conclusion comes in the form of a report by the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) on a complaint filed by New Haven Sgt. Wilfredo Cruz.
Cruz complained to the CHRO that the department removed him as East Shore district manager on Sept. 11, 2016 because of his ethnicity.
He charged that Annex Alder and State Rep. Al Paolillo Jr. pressed police brass to transfer Cruz.
“There is sufficient evidence to support a finding of reasonable cause that [New Haven] removed [Cruz] from the District Manager position in whole or in part because he is Hispanic,” CHRO investigator David L. Kent wrote in the report, a draft finding of reasonable cause, signed June 22.
“From the very beginning, Paolillo made it well known his disdain for [Cruz] holding the position of District Manager and the fact that he was Hispanic. … [T]he investigator cannot ignore the serious nature of Paolillo’s expressed, ongoing intent and its likely impact on the removal of [Cruz] from the District Manager position.”
That finding gives Cruz, who is represented by former city Corporation Counsel Patricia Cofrancesco, grounds to sue the city. Cruz and Paolillo did not respond Tuesday afternoon to requests for comment for this article. Cruz is currently assigned as a patrol sergeant.
The report comes at a time when the Board of Alders, led by Paolillo, has claimed more control over management decisions at the police department.
Pressure From A Pol
Thomas Breen Photo
Al Paolillo at a board hearing this month: No Latinos wnated?
Then-Police Chief Dean Esserman appointed Cruz to the district manager position on Feb. 22, 2015.
At the time, according to Kent’s findings of fact, “Esserman told [Cruz] that Alderman Paolillo (Italian) was not in favor of [Cruz] in the position because he was Hispanic. [Assistant Chief Luiz] Casanova told [Cruz] that Paolillo was going over Esserman’s head to City Hall to have [Cruz] removed.”
Esserman urged Cruz to meet with Paolillo over coffee. “I will have to get back to you,” the report quotes Paolillo as saying, and notes that Paolillo proceeded to ignore repeated calls and emails from Cruz as well as from two Latino assistant chiefs, Casanova and Al Vazquez.
The report states that Vazquez informed Cruz in February of 2016 that “he was going to be removed from the position of District Manager because of pressure from Paolillo.”
In September, then-Interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell sent Cruz a letter informing him he was being removed from the position. A white sergeant replaced him.
The report quotes Campbell as claiming that he acted because of complaints from citizens about Cruz’s “lack of responsiveness.” Kent wrote that he found no evidence that would make this claim “credible,” such as any written documentation of complaints. He did find “positive documents” from the public about Cruz’s performance, as well as “positive testimony” about it from Casanova. Campbell has since publicly defended Paolillo, who in turn publicly praised Campbell in his quest to become chief.
In a footnote to his decision, Kent dismisses the argument that the city “has no culpability” because unlike Paolillo, Campbell “harbored no discriminatory animus.”
“[I]t is enough that the City recognizes that Paolillo was motivated by such animus and that [Campbell] became the instrument to effectuate that intent,” he wrote.
Increased Oversight On Cop Policy
Alder Paolillo succeeded this week in convincing his colleagues to vote to override a mayoral veto and give the Board of Alders more say in the management of the police department.
The alders passed ten policy amendments as part of the new city budget. One the amendments declares that the police department “shall not expend any funds for new Lieutenants nor reassign any Sergeants until a deployment plan for patrol cops and supervisors has been presented to and discussed with the Board of Alders.” Another holds that “before any funds in police and fire overtime above 1 million dollars may be released, the Department will need to get Board of Alders approval.” Paolillo led the charge for those measures.
Mayor Toni Harp vetoed all ten amendments. She argued that, among other reasons, they improperly gave alders too much say over day-to-day management of the police department.
Paolillo was the only alder to speak on the subject from the floor Monday night at a special meeting called to override the mayor’s veto. He argued that the city charter gives the alders the powers contained in the amendments. The alders voted 25 – 0 to override the veto. (Click here for a full story including both sides’ arguments.)
The alders also have been working for years to raft a new citizen oversight review panel to handle charges of police misconduct, under a directive contained in a 2013 charter revision vote that they promoted. This quest has moved more slowly; the alders took three years to craft a proposal to set up the body, and have stalled in moving that proposal forward.