When New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson took over the department, he said he wanted his officers to treat the community with respect and dignity. Now, he’s looking to evolve that concept.
“When someone doesn’t treat the community with respect and dignity, what are the root causes of that? Kind of like how we look at the community,” Jacobson said.
NBC Connecticut down with him to discuss his plans. He says officers have asked for more mental health and wellness support, and he says he understands why some may need it. He recalled a double fatal shooting where four new officers tried to save the two victims.
“Watching that video really is when I said we’ve got to do everything we can possible to help the mental health and wellness of these officers, so they’re better officers and better toward their community.”
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The plan is for a lieutenant to be the go-to person for help, particularly after a traumatic experience.
“That a debriefing is set up right away, that peer support is enacted, that we have comfort dogs, that that’s enacted. That EAP, if needed, is enacted,” he said. He added that these tools for current officers will also help the mental health of officers when they retire.
This proposed position is included in the mayor’s budget before the board of alders for approval. The chief says they’re also applying for a $200,000 federal grant to help fund the position and the resources. Once approved, he hopes to expand beyond one lieutenant.
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Currently, Lieutenant Michael Fumiatti has done a lot of work in this area of the job.
“So, the average person sees two to three incidents of trauma in their life. The average police officer sees about 800, and I think that's a really low number.”
He says they might respond to five people’s worst day in an eight-hour shift.
“It's a compounding effect that I think we need to do a better job of just helping officers understand how trauma impacts them, so that they can be more productive people, police officers, etc.,” Fumiatti said.
The second part of the job would be providing the community with support and resources.
“The lasting impact of a lot of these really traumatic situations are long term for the community and so ultimately, the police department should play a part in getting people that help,” he added.
The department has a lot of connections with community programs, says Fumiatti. He points to long-standing partnerships with a lot of different agencies, like the Yale Child Study Center, Clifford beers, and newer relationships with COMPASS, the community crisis response team.
He says there could also be opportunities for officers to get more training in crisis response. He’s done a lot of crisis intervention training in his career. The mental health of officers ties in to how they respond to the community to offer that same help.
“And so why wouldn't we try to provide more to people if we are already in their living rooms in their houses anyway?”
