Ronnell A. Higgins, Yale University’s associate vice president for public safety and community engagement, will lead the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection when the commissioner of the department retires next month.
Commissioner James C. Rovella has served as the head of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection throughout the duration of the Lamont administration, which began in January 2019.
Gov. Ned Lamont said he will be nominating Higgins to succeed immediately upon Rovella’s retirement.
Colonel Stavros Mellekas, deputy commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and commanding officer of the Connecticut State Police, also plans to step down from his service with the state. Lamont said Higgins will identify a successor to serve in this role.
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Higgins currently serves with Yale University as associate vice president for public safety and community engagement, a position he has held since June 2022.
“I am truly honored at the opportunity to serve as the next commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection for the State of Connecticut,” Higgins said in a statement. “I am looking forward to applying my experiences, as well as listening, learning, and leading this important, six-division agency.”
Lamont’s office said Higgins is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in law enforcement from the University of New Haven, and earned a Master of Arts degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
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The governor’s office will forward Higgins’s nomination to the Connecticut General Assembly for its advice and consent upon the start of the 2024 regular legislative session.
Higgins will serve as interim commissioner when Rovella retires.
DESPP has six divisions: the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control; the Connecticut State Police; the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security; the Police Officers Standards and Training Council; the Division of Scientific Services; and the Division of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications.
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