The Yale Police Union is coming under fire after hundreds of flyers were handed out to first-year students over the weekend while they moved into their new dorms.
The flyers warned them of the dangers of New Haven, pointing to an increase in homicides, motor vehicle thefts and burglaries across the city.
The move prompted New Haven police, Yale police and community and city leaders to speak out against the decision to distribute the flyers.
“We do not support this and to be quite frank, I’m really disgusted that they have chosen to take this path,” said Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
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The flyers are part of a contract negotiation tactic, according to Campbell, who says he had a call with the union president.
“He said they had no intention of doing this. But 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 of the call.
“If you’re going to have an issue, let that issue be between Yale University and the union. Do not drag the New Haven Police Department, do not drag the citizens of this city, into such a discussion," he continued.
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In a phone call before the news conference, Union President Mike Hall said the flyers were designed to get the attention of new students who may receive lots of paperwork and flyers during move-in.
We reached out to the union afterward and did not hear back.
“This is one of the most important days in a person’s life, in a child or parent. And to be confronted with this, inflammatory and false flyer is in fact an outrage,” New Haven Board of Police Commissioner Mike Lawlor said.
According to Lawlor, the flyers are a copy of the 1975 flyers handed out to tourists who arrived in New York City. The Yale police flyers are the same, including a hooded skull and several safety points including staying off the streets after 8 p.m., avoiding public transit and not walking alone.
“Within 48 hours, every other union in the city including the sergeants and lieutenants’ unions in the NYPD condemned it, and they stopped it,” Lawlor said.
Yale police stopped handing out the flyers after negative feedback started getting to the union, police and community members, according to Campbell.
“The union is going to come and do this to us? No! Won’t happen,” said Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, who was upset over the divisive nature of the flyers.
Among the first-year students who were the targets of the flyers, several said they weren’t frightened by the message.
“I just think it’s important to just watch your surroundings, be safe and not do too much of the fear-mongering. It’s like any other big city I feel like,” Etana Heda said.
“A lot of our [first-year counselors] were very quick to tell us ‘It’s not really like that here, it’s like any other city. You just have to have your wits about you,’” said Bella Amell.
The July data in the flyer for homicides, burglaries and vehicle thefts are indeed up compared to July of last year. But, as officials pointed out, robberies and other crimes are down, and violent crime is down 16% across the city.
“Safety and low crime is created by a team effort. And this is a team effort in New Haven for every single type of crime,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said.
Campbell said crime on campus is also down, including robberies and violent crimes. When asked about the recent off-campus break-ins of women’s bedrooms, police say the investigation is ongoing and didn’t offer specific details.
Iris Henry said she’s from Durham, North Carolina, a similar college town and she said she feels like there are similar crime rates.
“I always felt pretty safe there but I’ve also lived there my entire life, so this sort of flyer didn’t really scare me that much,” Henry said.
Other students also said the flyers didn’t make them fear the Elm City.
“Before I came to campus, everyone told me that New Haven was, like, an unsafe city but I kind of really do feel safe, because last night we went out and there were cops on every corner. We have the blue lights where we can call SOS,” Frane Marusic, of Croatia, said.
“Even though Yale PD has sent out flyers making it seem like a lot more than it actually is, I feel like so far, I’ve had a great experience. Nothing has felt unsafe, especially on campus,” Chris Li of North Potomac, Maryland, said.
Campbell said the flyers might have gotten the union some attention, but it may not be the kind they wanted.
“There is a line in any negotiation that should never be crossed, and they went well beyond that line," he said.
The entire statement from Yale University can be found here.
