A Yale University professor has filed a complaint against New Haven's police chief over his behavior and a confrontation at the Yale-Army football game in September.
The complaint Yale University Professor of Epidemiology Daniel Weinberger sent to the mayor and Board of Police Commissioners says he witnessed an usher ask Chief Dean Esserman to see his ticket, but Esserman told the usher he had "an all-access pass."
The usher then turned away from the chief and commented to the professor that the chief "was a jerk," the letter says. Then, the chief allegedly screamed at the usher, asked the usher's supervisor that he "be removed from the premises" and threatened to "shut the whole game down" if he did not comply.
Esserman has since apologized, according to the New Haven Register, and told the paper he acted “inappropriately.”
NBC Connecticut tried reaching out to the chief on Thursday night, but we have not heard back.
Esserman told the New Haven Register earlier Thursday that he was not proud of his actions and was “having a bad day but that's not a good enough excuse. When you're wrong, you're wrong.”
City officials said this is the same apology Esserman gave New Haven Mayor Toni Harp and Yale after the incident happened, that this is a personnel issue and they cannot comment further.
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The Board of Alderman forwarded the complaint to the board of police commissioners as well as the mayor but several alders said they couldn't say much else.
In his letter, Weinberger went onto say he supports the job New Haven police are doing in addition to the community policing initiatives Esserman put in place since he returned to New Haven in 2011, but he wants to ensure the usher doesn't lose his job over the incident.
The professor also asked the city to look at the chief's behavior to make sure there's not a broader problem in police conduct.
Alders said the complaint will be acknowledged at Monday's meeting, but not discussed.
