Maya McFadden Photo
Three new faces of the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) joined Interim Police Chief Otoniel Reyes and community leaders to get a first-hand look at community policing — and take on three teens on the Scantlebury Park basketball court.
The NHPD joined with organizer Daniel Hunt for another in a series of community walks, this time around the Dixwell neighborhood.
Officers Jennifer Giovanni, Rykema Stone, and Christopher Troche (pictured above) have only four weeks left in the three-month Department’s Field Training Officer (FTO) Program, in which they’re paired with veteran officers before going on patrol alone.
In a group of nearly 20 participants, 13 were officers who strolled through near the Monterey Place apartments and Scantlebury Park greeting and conversating with residents of all ages.
(Top) Dixwell cop Lt. Manmeet Colon approached front steps to chat with neighbors …
… and another officer brought some new friends along on her rounds.
The group began at the front of the Stetson Branch Library and finished there, after the hour-long stroll.
The group made a stop at Scantlebury Park’s basketball court where three officers offered to face three of the teens on the court.
Ciel Miller, 14, Byron Boyd, 16, and Chace Sealy, 14 championed the court in a game against officers Reyes, Stone, and Matthew Borges. Despite the cheers from the sidelines from a group of kids yelling. “Go, police officers!” they lost against the boys who said they come to the court all the time.
“I’m just glad we made at least one point and I really hope the boys had as much fun as we did,” said Reyes.
As the officers walked past one home, 3‑year-old, Kedrel Feliciano came running out alongside his mother asking for a picture with the officers. Feliciano’s eyes were glued on the officer’s hats and shiny gold badges as he approached. This caused Assistant Chief Racheal Cain to let Feliciano borrow her hat for the picture. He smiled from cheek to cheek.
Feliciano’s mother told the officers that one of her son’s favorite toys is a police car and he hopes to be a cop when he grows up.
“This is what it’s all about,” said Reyes.
The officers handed out police badge stickers, kids goodie-bags, and popsicles to children during the walk. As the group walked through the streets, drivers pulled over to converse with the officers and community leaders or beeped their horns.
“We got to make New Haven better,” Hunt said.
Hunt’s cousin, Marquell Banks, was shot and killed in 2011. This has been what inspired him to organize these walks to help bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement.