NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Wednesday marked a new era for the New Haven Police Department with a new police chief sworn in and a new class of police officers joining the force.
Twenty recruits graduated from the New Haven Police Academy on Wednesday evening and each brings a different motivation for joining the force.
“It’s been a lifelong dream. Ever since I was a little kid,” said Trevor Brown from Branford. ”I’ve always wanted to help people.”
“The Black Lives Matter marches, back in even 2017, is really what got me wanting to be a police officer, to make a difference and really impact where I’m living," said Clara Hill, a New Haven resident joining the force.
This comes at a troubling time for the department, as an investigation is underway into the serious injury of a man while in police custody. In the weeks since 36-year-old Richard “Randy” Cox was paralyzed, community members have been calling for justice.
“Both the chief and I have said many times, the way in which Mr. Cox was treated was completely unacceptable. It will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be taken and we will do everything in our power to make sure this incident does not happen again," New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said.
Moving forward, New Haven’s new police chief, Karl Jacobson, said the department is working toward ensuring procedural justice.
“Giving people a voice, listening to people when you show up on a scene, treating them with dignity, being neutral in your decision making...and then just building trust and those are really—they sound easy, but they can be difficult and we failed at that recently right, so we need to concentrate on that,” Chief Jacobson said.
Despite the challenges, not only in New Haven but across the nation as communities rally for policing policy changes, recruits say they’re hoping to make a difference.
“I hope to just bring a different face to that," Hill said. "And really brining back that community aspect of the policing.”
Mayor Elicker said this is the first class to receive a type of use-of-force and de-escalation training called ICAT, which will be a future requirement for all New Haven PD officers.
Elisha Machado is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at emachado@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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