Community-building panel prompts collaborative conversation.

March 11, 2021

Last month, Yale’s affinity groups hosted a community-building panel discussion with Yale and New Haven law enforcement leaders, including Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins, Assistant Chief Anthony Campbell, and New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes. The conversation took place over Zoom with all eight affinity groups represented. Each group posed a specific question which was answered individually by the two chiefs. 

Entitled “Better Together: Demystifying “Protect & Serve,” topics included policing, accountability, and better working partnerships. The three chiefs introduced themselves and talked a little about their personal and professional backgrounds. AC Campbell, an ordained minister, offered up a moment of silence, remembering all the people who have experienced violence in their lives. He then proceeded to moderate the event.

Many of the affinity groups’ questions centered around what types of training the police receive, de-escalation techniques used, in addition to how police deal with mental health calls and female victims of violent crimes. There were also questions about practices and training for equitable interactions and treatment of trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming individuals. Also, one query was about how officers interact with individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.

Both chiefs answered all questions without pause and stressed that all current and future training is centered around ensuring interactions can have better outcomes. They mentioned the importance of preparing officers to identify what they are dealing with to provide the right assistance. Both departments are teaming up with mental health professionals concerning non-violent calls. In policing overall and locally, the long-term plan is to tackle some systemic issues. It was suggested that community leaders join the police during training to understand what police officers experience such as de-escalation training. 

Chief Higgins mentioned that training in the past focused on race and cultural awareness. Now officers receive bias training. “With bias training, we have made it a human conversation. This includes understanding ourselves, and how we perceive the communities we are serving,” said Higgins. In other recent changes, the Yale Police Department (YPD) now has two plainclothes officers who respond to mental health calls. Historically, the YPD has worked with the Yale College Dean’s to understand who is living on campus or in campus housing that may have a disability. 

Chief Reyes talked about engaging with the undocumented community, including talking sessions. During these sessions, they are explained their rights and the New Haven Police Department’s (NHPD) policies and procedures. He spoke about the NHPD having their first trans officer and the many positive benefits of that experience for the entire department and that officer. 

Lastly, the “Protect and Serve” mission statement was discussed. All three chiefs agreed that it is an outdated, historical moniker from another era and that policing is an evolving field. “We are many things for many people,” said Chief Reyes. It was very clear from this discussion that both the YPD and NHPD want to partner with the local community and its leaders for mutual problem solving and better outcomes.

Special thanks to the eight affinity groups and their leaders:

  • African American Affinity Group
  • Asian Network at Yale
  • DiversAbility Network
  • Future Leaders of Yale 
  • LGBTQ
  • Veterans Group
  • Working Women’s Group
  • Yale Latino Networking Group