NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Public safety leaders at Yale University are now speaking out and condemning the actions of the police union, which sent disparaging flyers to first-year students over the weekend. Those flyers warned new students about their safety, saying the campus and the surrounding city of New Haven, isn’t safe.
"To do this is childish, and it’s selfish," said New Haven Mayor, Justin Elicker, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Elicker was joined by Yale University's Police Chief, the Chief of the New Haven Police Department, and other officers, New Haven Alders, and community leaders working to combat violence on a daily basis. All speakers stood up to the microphones with anger and passion in their voices.
“We do not support this. And to be quite frank, I’m really disgusted that they have chosen to take this path," said Yale's Police Chief, Anthony Campbell.
This all comes after members of the Yale Police Benevolent Association distributed what they titled, "A Survival Guide for First-Year Students of Yale University" as they were moving in other the weekend. On the pamphlet, it has a picture of a skull head, with the words, "Good Luck".
It's then followed by five main messages, telling Yale students to stay off the streets after 8 p.m., not to walk alone, avoid public transportation, remain on campus, and protect their property.
"When you welcome someone to your community, you embrace them and you support them and you ensure that they are successful here. You don't promote fear, you don't promote misinformation, you don't mislead people about the home that is their new home," Elicker said.
Chief Campbell said he's been hearing from parents and students who were upset about the flyers.
“It was really scary, it was alarming," said Isabella Caltitla, an incoming freshman at Yale, who received the flyer while moving in on Sunday. "My mom was pretty scared about it too just because I’m her only daughter and I’m moving so far from home.”
Since the pamphlets went out, the university has been in mitigation mode, reassuring parents that their campus is safe. Campbell said he attended a session with parents and students to spread the message.
"And I spent time both on stage and afterward, talking to them about the reality that we have many layers of protection. Not only is there one police department, there are two. That Yale has security officers as well. That we have access control, cameras," Campbell said.
Those messages have been comforting for students like Caltitla.
"People are really nice, and it’s a beautiful city," Caltitla said.
As for why the union sent the messages out, Chief Campbell believes it's connected to union contract negotiations, now in its early stages.
"When the university approached them with their proposed dollar amount for the contract, they were offended, and that members of the board of the union decided that something needed to be done and this is what they decided to do," Campbell said.
A spokesperson for the union, Andrew Matthews, said the flyers had nothing to do with negotiations. Matthews did not have any part in the creation of the flyers, though he is speaking on behalf of those who did.
"There’s no dispute on the facts. So, I think they feel an obligation to make sure that students don’t fall victim to crimes while they’re attending Yale University," Matthews said.
Matthews said the whole thing was in response to crime rates at Yale and throughout New Haven.
"They have motor vehicles chasing each other down the streets of New Haven shooting at one another. If you or your children were to go to Yale, wouldn’t you want to know that," Matthews questioned.
However, the Associate Vice President of Public Safety at Yale, Ronnell Higgins, sent a statement saying crime rates on campus are down.
"Yale is committed to the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, neighbors, and visitors, and we unequivocally condemn the irresponsible and reckless actions of those who chose to spread this inaccurate information. Indeed, our campus continues to see a decrease in crime, especially violent crimes. Robberies are down 30% compared to last year, and throughout the City of New Haven, robberies and burglaries are also down. The most reported crime on campus is the theft of laptops, cell phones, and motorized scooters left unattended and unsecured," Higgins said (in the statement).
FOX61 looked at the Annual Security Report, posted by Yale every few years. The latest data only goes back to 2021. In that report, it showed crimes like murder, robbery, and burglary were down from 2020 to 2021. However, rape and motor vehicle theft both increased during the same time frame.
In the surrounding city of New Haven, overall violent crime is down, however, homicides have doubled this year. At this time last year, there were seven homicides. Now, there are 14. However, the number of non-fatal shootings has decreased. This time last year, there were 71 non-fatal shootings, whereas so far this year, there have been 41 non-fatal shootings.
See the full statement from Higgins below:
"This weekend, the Yale Police Union, which is currently in contract negotiations with the university, handed out misleading pamphlets to Yale students as they moved into their residential colleges. These pamphlets included disturbing and inflammatory rhetoric about the safety of Yale’s campus and its home city of New Haven, aimed at creating fear among new students and their families.
Yale is committed to the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, neighbors, and visitors, and we unequivocally condemn the irresponsible and reckless actions of those who chose to spread this inaccurate information. Indeed, our campus continues to see a decrease in crime, especially violent crimes. Robberies are down 30% compared to last year, and throughout the City of New Haven, robberies and burglaries are also down. The most reported crime on campus is the theft of laptops, cell phones, and motorized scooters left unattended and unsecured.
Move-in day has always been special and memorable for students and their families, many of whom are coming to Yale and New Haven for the first time. The university supports the right of union members to rally peacefully, but today’s leafleting both ran counter to the spirit of the day and detracted from the exemplary work performed by Yale Police officers, Public Safety team members, and their partners at the New Haven Police Department."
-Ronnell Higgins, Associate Vice President for Public Safety at Yale
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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