Pan, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher, will face 35 years in prison as part of his plea agreement. Pan is due back in court on April 25 for his disposition hearing, which will include his sentencing, according to court records.

Pan’s plea, entered in Superior Court in New Haven, concludes a case that made national headlines for the murder of a Yale student and the three-month-long manhunt that followed.

“I can’t say this brings the family justice. I hope it does,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told the News Thursday evening. “I think a 35-year sentence is a large sentence … I hope this brings the family justice.”

Molly Arabolos, Pan’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New Haven State’s Attorney John P. Doyle Jr. also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jiang, a 26-year-old student at the School of the Environment, was shot and killed on Feb. 6, 2021, in New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood. The shooting occurred just a week after he proposed to his fiance, Zion Perry GRD ’26, whom Pan knew at MIT. Police identified Pan as a person of interest on Feb. 10, but Pan evaded police until May 13, 2021, when he was detained by United States Marshalls in Montgomery, Alabama.

Pan had been held in custody for the past three years, as judges granted Pan and his attorneys multiple extensions to review evidence. In March 2022, Pan’s lawyer claimed that Pan was having difficulty reading through documents related to the case because he had limited access to the prison library. 

In September 2022, Pan’s attorney requested State Superior Court Judge Jon Alander LAW ’78 to order a “competency exam.” Results from the exam that Alander granted deemed Pan fit for trial in early November 2022.

Pan first faced evidence in court in December 2022 over two days of probable cause hearings. Several witnesses who testified at the hearings described how they saw Pan flee the scene in a SUV and forensic scientists testified that they had found evidence inside the SUV, further linking Pan to the crime scene.

“I hope to see justice soon,” Jiang’s mother Linda Liu told the News after the first probable cause hearing on Dec. 6, 2022. “Not for money or fame but for the truth.”

On Dec. 8, 2022, Alander ruled that there was probable cause linking Pan to Jiang’s murder. Two days after Alander’s ruling, Pan pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

In April 2023, Arabolos — a public defender — was assigned to Pan’s case, replacing his private criminal defense attorneys. Arabolos represented Pan at his hearing on Thursday, during which Pan pleaded guilty. 

Jacobson attributed the guilty plea to overwhelming evidence from the prosecutors that linked Pan to the murder.

“The justice system takes time for a reason,” Jacobson said. “I think the fact that he gave a plea shows you that we had an overwhelming case with lots of evidence. I’m proud of the work of the state’s attorney’s office who prepared for trial and gave them no other choice but to plead out.”

Pan’s sentencing hearing will take place on April 25 at the New Haven Courthouse at 235 Church St.

Nathaniel Rosenberg and Sophie Sonnenfeld contributed reporting.

The post Qinxuan Pan pleads guilty to murder of Kevin Jiang ENV ’22 appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Two of three arbitration officers on the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration voted to overturn the city’s termination of Diaz, who was fired in June of last year for his role in paralyzing Randy Cox, which sparked protests in New Haven. The panel ruled that Diaz was not responsible for Cox’s injuries and should return to his post with full pay after a 15-day unpaid suspension.

Cox, a 36-year-old Black man, was paralyzed in police custody after he was arrested by NHPD officers on June 19, 2022. While driving Cox to the Westchester Avenue substation, Diaz, who was speeding, stopped abruptly to avoid a crash and Cox slammed against the back of the police vehicle, which did not have seatbelts.

Diaz did not wait for an ambulance and instead took Cox to NHPD headquarters, where he was dragged out of the van and into a holding cell before receiving medical attention. Cox repeatedly told the five officers involved he could not move but was dismissed according to footage released by the NHPD. 

On Sept. 27, 2022, Cox filed a lawsuit for $100 million in damages against the city of New Haven and the five officers involved: Diaz, Betsy Segui, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavendier and Luis Rivera. The city settled the case for $45 million in June 2023, almost a year after Cox’s arrest, marking the largest settlement in a police misconduct case in United States history. 

After a criminal investigation conducted by Connecticut State Police, Diaz was charged in November 2022 with cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the second degree. Both criminal charges are still pending. The New Haven Board of Police Commissioners voted to fire Diaz on June 28, 2023, on the basis of violating several general orders. Diaz also has a pending decertification request at Connecticut’s State Police Officer Standards and Training Council.

After deciding that Diaz “did not commit all of the violations with which he was charged,” two of three members of the State Arbitration Panel ruled that the decision to terminate Diaz’s office lacked just cause.

The ruling claims that there is no evidence to prove Diaz’s actions resulted directly in Cox’s injuries and says that he treated Cox with respect. It also says that Diaz’s use of his phone while driving was a minor violation of a general order.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson released a joint statement shortly after the ruling was publicized expressing their disagreement with the panel’s decision.

“​​We are incredibly disappointed and strongly disagree with the ruling by the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration,” Elicker and Jacobson wrote. “We strongly believe the decision to terminate Officer Diaz was the right one, and the city will challenge the ruling by submitting a motion to vacate to the Connecticut Superior Court.”

Despite the ruling of the Arbitration Board for Diaz to return to the NHPD following a 15-day unpaid suspension, Diaz will not be reinstated as an officer due to his forthcoming criminal trial and motion to vacate. 

The News could not reach Diaz for comment and his lawyer, Jeffery Ment, did not respond to a request for comment.

“In the immediate term, the decision of this arbitration board clears a hurdle for the officer who’s seeking to be reinstated as a police officer and escape accountability for what happened to Randy Cox,” said Jorge Camacho, who is the policing, law and policy director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. 

Camacho added that this arbitration ruling may have implications for Diaz’s criminal trial.

“The findings of the arbitration board are pursuant to a standard of evidence and burden of proof that is lower than what a criminal prosecution would need to result in a conviction,” Camacho said. “You would have to be even more certain of the conduct that this officer did to sustain a criminal conviction than to sustain his firing from the New Haven police department.”

Florencio Cotto, president of the New Haven Police Union, did not respond to the News’ request for comment.

The Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration is located at 38 Wolcott Hill Rd. in Wethersfield.

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On Friday, Jan. 12, the YPD promoted five officers at a ceremony held in the Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium. Dell was promoted to Assistant Chief after previously serving as the Public Information Officer at the New Haven Police Department. Dell told the News that YPD Chief Anthony Campbell ’95, former NHPD Chief and her former classmate in Berkeley College, approached her about the role.

“We share a belief in servant leadership and have a shared vision for moving the department forward,” Dell wrote in an email to the News. “Joining the YPD allows me to work alongside Chief Campbell, contribute to the institution I hold dear as an alumna, and make a positive impact on the Yale community.”

The position opened after former Assistant Chief Steve Woznyk retired in 2022 after 17 years in the role. The YPD selected Dell from several external candidates, including applicants from NHPD. 

At the same ceremony, John Healy was sworn in as captain. Healy retired from NHPD in June 2023. 

Both Dell and Healy were interviewed by a panel consisting of University faculty, law enforcement officials and community members, according to Campbell. Dell was chosen for the position in November 2023. 

“As the Assistant Chief of the Yale Police Department, my primary focus is to reclaim the image of policing as a noble profession,” Dell wrote in an email to the News. “I am committed to advancing women in law enforcement through the implementation of the 30X30 initiative. This initiative aims to increase the representation of women in law enforcement agencies to 30 percent by the year 2030.”

Dell served in a variety of roles, including leading the Internal Affairs Unit, Captain and Public Information Officer during her 15 years at the NHPD. Campbell described what he sees as the imbalance of opportunities for women in executive leadership and stated his commitment to ensuring the representation of women in policing.

Currently, 16 percent of YPD’s force is women, Campbell told the New Haven Independent. Nationwide only 12 percent of police officers are women.

“From the time I was sworn in … one of my goals is to make sure that there are females represented on the highest level of leadership in this organization,” Campbell said. 

Campbell highlighted Dell’s experience in policy writing, policy development, crash reconstruction, internal affairs and numerous leadership positions in New Haven. Campbell also noted that both Dell and Healy received executive training from the Police Executive Research Forum and the FBI National Academy.

In his time at the NHPD, Healy served as captain and deputy commander for the SWAT team — Special Weapons And Tactics. The YPD Captain position was vacated after former Captain William Kraszewsky retired in February after 34 years on the force. Healy told the News that he decided to join the YPD because it offered him the opportunity to stay in New Haven and continue working in policing. 

“Having already developed a deep understanding of the geographical area and the communities within New Haven during my time with the New Haven Police Department, joining the Yale Police Department felt like a seamless transition,” Healy wrote in an email to the News. “I am excited about the chance to contribute to the safety and security of Yale and its surrounding areas, and I believe my experience and knowledge will be valuable assets in this role.”

Campbell highlighted Healy’s emergency service and SWAT experience as well as his time leading investigative service units. 

Three other officers were sworn in at the ceremony. Gregg Curran and Raymund Dejesus were promoted to detectives after retirements in 2023 left two vacant positions. Gabrielle Kado was elevated to sergeant after a sergeant resigned in November.

The Yale Police Department was founded in 1894.

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According to NHPD Assistant Chief David Zannelli, the department has a total of 82 sworn positions that are currently vacant, including 47 in patrol. This limits the NHPD’s ability to respond to calls for service, he said. Recruits will undergo training and join the force in May upon successful completion of the program. 

“Although we’re still a little short, this does bring our numbers up to a better place,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said at the swearing-in ceremony. “I thank you for having the courage to go through this process and sit here and be ready to join the New Haven Police Department.”

Jacobson emphasized that NHPD is committed to hiring a diverse group of police officers. This class of recruits includes six women. Sixteen of the 19 recruits are women and/or racial minorities, Jacobson said.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker thanked recruits, as well as their families, for making “sacrifice on [their] part” and supporting the future officers. He called on the recruits to “always make good decisions,” on and off the job. 

Vacancies in city police limit service

Vacancies in the police department have made it difficult to respond to all calls for service, especially with 13,000 more calls for service this year compared to 2022 numbers, according to Zannelli. 

“We need to respond to the things that are potentially life and death first, so being low staff sometimes aggravates the community because we can’t respond as quickly as we’d like to,” Zannelli said. “I’d like to have 10 or 12 [School Resource Officers], we only have five. I’d like to have a walking beat in every district. We just can’t do that.”

There are 394 full-time sworn police officer positions in the city’s budget. Currently, 344 positions of those positions are filled — including the latest class of 18 new recruits from last week — which translates into 87 percent of positions being filled.

Zannelli attributed this shortage to the negative portrayal of police in social media in America in recent years as well as low work compensation and benefits New Haven police officers receive. 

Zannelli argued there was a generational change in the perspective on the profession, as he said people focus on instances of police brutality such as the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020. 

“The new generation is just not interested in law enforcement because of the negative media spin and some of the unrealistic expectations put on police officers nowadays,” Zannelli told the News. “That’s one of the pieces that people often cite to us … it’s a thankless job.”

In addition to negative sentiment surrounding policing in America, salary and working conditions contribute to vacancies in the department.

In New Haven, a starting police officer earns $50,745 annually. In comparison, the starting salary of an officer in Bridgeport is $69,118 and is $78,654 in Waterbury.

Zannelli added that younger workers seek jobs with more flexibility and work-life balance and are not as willing to work the 60 to 70 hours a week that a job in law enforcement requires. The high number of vacancies, he said, only increases the pressure and time commitment for each officer.

“No workplace is perfect,” Nikki Curry, a New Haven police officer who worked in the force for 15 years, told the News. “[But] it’s a fulfilling job … I enjoy coming to work every day, our department is great.”

Curry said she talks to New Haven residents, on and off duty, and tries to get more people to join the NHPD, although she acknowledged that “the climate for policing has changed.” 

There is a similar number of vacancies in the police department as in other city departments, according to data provided by the mayor’s office. 

Excluding vacancies in public schools, there are approximately 230 vacancies out of 1,400 full-time positions in city government. This reflects an 16 percent vacancy rate compared to 13 percent at the NHPD, after the addition of the 19 new recruits. 

NHPD pursuing recruitment strategies

To address the shortage, the New Haven police department has used different methods in its recruitment efforts. 

Jacobson said he has put emphasis on recruitment programs, especially youth programming, since he was sworn into office in July 2022. According to him, the NHPD hosts a mentorship program that works with approximately 425 kids per week in athletic programs in hopes of positively shaping their perception of the NHPD. 

“If you take kids from especially a city neighborhood, what they might be getting at home is [that] police are no good, the police are bad,” Jacobson told the News. “So it’s been a thing of mine to start young and get the kids to understand that we’re people, too. That we’re good people, and then, hopefully, they change their mind to want to become cops at some point.”

In addition, the NHPD has invested in other recruitment efforts such as the Clergy Academy, which involved religious leaders of various faiths in the recruitment process, the Residence Academy and the Junior Cadet Program, a training program geared toward potential recruits who are between 13 and 20-years-old. The department, Jacobson said, also continues to recruit veterans and college graduates. 

Jacobson said that the NHPD received a grant from the federal government for recruitment and used it for advertising on social media.

“Data … shows your best recruiting tool is your other police officer saying come to New Haven,” Jacobson said. “So we’ve tried to improve the conditions here. We’re working on a new contract.”

City, union in contentious negotiation over new police contract 

The NHPD has been without a contract for over a year. The city and the police union are currently in contract negotiations. 

Fair Haven/East Rock’s Alder Claudia Herrera published an opinion piece in the New Haven Independent with Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller ’03 in October, calling for “an equitable contract that gives current and future police officers every reason to sign up and stay to serve New Haven.” 

Herrera told the News that she spoke with police officers who are thinking of leaving the department because of working conditions. The biggest concern for police officers, she said, is that there is no contract, and hence no predictability in their work. 

“I myself and additional labor attorneys have been in some ways [involved in negotiations], with the goal of finding an agreement that respects the work of the officers, and also is the right balance of what we can afford in the city,” Elicker told the News about the ongoing negotiations. “The city [has offered] a very reasonable proposal to the police union, and we are continuing back and forth [on] that negotiation. Obviously, both parties want to get the agreements on as soon as possible, but that takes a lot of work.”

Elicker’s positive outlook has not been shared by the police union.

On Nov. 9, the Official New Haven Police Union Page posted on X that Elicker was “checked out,” a year into bargaining.

“What I have seen from Mayor Elicker’s team are delaying tactics, unreasonable demands and a complete unwillingness to engage in the process,” the union account wrote. 

Herrera complained about a lack of communication from the Mayor’s office about the negotiations. 

The New Haven Police Union and Elicker did not respond to the News’ requests to comment on the negotiations in time for this story.

Herrera said that Elicker, Jacobson and New Haven Police Union President ​​Florencio Cotto should sit together and talk through the conditions, with public participation in the process. She said that she and several other alders are trying to organize a public workshop on the negotiations. 

There are 10 policing districts in New Haven.

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The Yale Police Department apprehended three non-Yale individuals — whom the YPD identified as juveniles — involved in the attempted theft in Saybrook and the Branford break-in, in addition to a non-Yale-affiliated adult who broke into Pauli Murray. 

Branford and Saybrook

According to Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell, YPD officers were notified that four juveniles were attempting to steal bikes from the Saybrook courtyard — which is adjacent to Branford’s courtyard — at 6:34 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27. When Yale police officers arrived on the scene, they apprehended one juvenile. Campbell added that the YPD then received a second call stating that Yale students had encountered two juveniles in a Branford suite located in entryway C.

According to Nati Tesfaye ’26, who lives in the affected suite and is a staff reporter for the News, there were four individuals involved in the break-in. At approximately 6:40 p.m., Tesfaye said, students found three juveniles inside of their suite. A fourth juvenile was outside the suite acting as a lookout. Tesfaye, who is also a staff reporter for the News, said that the three individuals in the suite took food and electronics.

Tesfaye told the News that a Branford College student who does not live in the affected suite reported the break-in to the Yale Police Department. 

While YPD did not specify whether the Saybrook and Branford incidents are linked, Campbell said that three trespassers in total were arrested, charged, given summons and released to a guardian — including the individual apprehended in the Saybrook courtyard.

The arrested individuals returned the stolen electronics once confronted by members of the suite, Tesfaye said. He added that the juveniles claimed to be students at a New Haven high school.

Branford administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saybrook Dean Adam Haliburton declined to comment. 

Pauli Murray

On Monday morning, YPD officers also apprehended a non-Yale affiliated adult in Pauli Murray.

Officers discerned from video surveillance that the individual was let into the college by a Yale student, who swiped the individual into one of the Pauli Murray gates and proceeded to attempt to burglarize an unlocked suite. According to Campbell, the suspect claimed that the door to the entryway was “wide open.” 

Campbell told the News that the individual attempted to steal cell phones from a suite. 

“The suspect was arrested and charged with trespassing and burglary,” Campbell wrote in a text to the News on Nov. 28.

In an email sent to Benjamin Franklin College students at 5:50 p.m. on Monday, Head of College Jordan Peccia informed his students of the incident in Pauli Murray.  

“This morning at 6 am, an intruder entered a suite in Pauli Murray College,” Peccia wrote. “The students in the suite immediately called Yale Police; no one was harmed; no property was taken. The suspect was quickly apprehended and is now in jail.”

Danielle Lee, a member of the suite — which is located on the second floor in Murray’s entryway D — recounted the break-in. 

At approximately 5:50 a.m. on Monday, Lee woke up to find her phone in front of her suitemate’s bedroom door. Upon waking her suitemate up, they found an adult man in their suite. The man was silent and exited the room when Lee called the Yale Police.

“Keep the suites locked,” Lee said. “The hallways inside the residential colleges may not be like a part of your home… I don’t think [the man] would have gotten in if all our suite doors were locked.”

Lee said that involved police officers and Murray staff were empathetic to their experience.

Campbell told the News that YPD “typically” does not have to send a community-wide alert after making an arrest “because there is no threat to the community.”

“Stop putting tape on the doors and the hangers,” Campbell advised. “Do not let anyone you do not know into the college.” 

According to statistics published by Yale Public Safety, there were a total of 20 on-campus burglaries in 2020 and 11 cases in both 2021 and 2022. 

Apprehended juveniles are brought to the New Haven Police Department.

Update, Dec. 4: This article has been updated to include comments from a student living in the affected Pauli Murray suite.

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Hosted by the Asian American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural, the Afro-American Cultural House and the Native American Cultural Center, the event drew over 30 attendees to the Beinecke Plaza and later the Berkeley Thomas Mendenhall Common Room to learn about the history of policing and calls for action for changes within the New Haven and Yale police departments. 

“I think it’s really important post-pandemic to be doing things that bring the cultural centers together,” Madeline Gupta ’25, president of the Yale American Indian Science and Engineering Society, said. “We were really interested in hosting an event that would highlight solidarity between all the cultural centers and I think something that really impacts the cultural centers is policing.”

The organizers said that the initial idea for the teach-in came after the Yale police union passed out “survival guide” leaflets to first year students on move-in day in August. 

Community members and University and city officials criticized these leaflets as “fear-mongering.”

“A lot of people are [Peer Liaisons] within the cultural centers, and so [first-years] have questions about the safety in New Haven,” Mara Gutierrez ’25, co-chair of the Native and Indigenous Students Association at Yale, said. “[We are] just making sure that everything is contextualized in the proper way so that it does not seem like the scary New Haven that the pamphlets created for the first years.”

The speakers at the event discussed the merits of abolition, restorative justice, mutual aid and harm reduction and suggested ways to implement them into the New Haven community.

The teach-in emphasized the need for an abolition effort that includes reimagining “current policing and prison structures” and “unlearning false safety narratives rooted in anti-Blackness and classism” by engaging in harm reduction and mutual aid practices, according to pamphlets handed out at the teach-in. 

Organizers also reviewed the history of policing in America, discussing topics such as slave patrols, segregation laws and mass incarceration during the war on drugs and the war on poverty, as well as the over-policing of Indigenous communities and disabled peoples.

“I really enjoyed the perspective of people from the LGBT community, and the Indigenous community, and the Asian American community,” Tenzin Walker ’27 told the News. “And just all of these different underrepresented groups that we typically focus on in the conversation about over-policing. It’s very much an issue of all of these marginalized groups.”

In addition to speakers from the cultural centers, Elisio Acosta and Kirill Staklo from PeerPride New Haven spoke about the consequences of unnecessary police intervention or hospitalization.

PeerPride is an organization that works to create peer and crisis support while advocating for equity in healthcare, food access, education, technology and mental health services. 

“When it comes to getting resources for people in our communities, it’s important to do the appropriate research and make sure that we’re moving away from resources that engage in non-consensual interventions,” Staklo said. “[that] can result in … people not having access to their loved ones losing their jobs being slapped with very expensive bills that result in losing housing, it can result in people being assaulted and traumatized.”

In New Haven, the New Haven Police Department issued a new use of force policy in Dec. 2021. In Jan. 2022, the NHPD faced criticism for promoting an officer who repeatedly punched an unarmed arrestee. 

NHPD Assistant Chief David Zannelli told the News that NHPD is working to only use force when “absolutely necessary.” 

“One of the things I think is very central to what we do here is, you know, how we deescalate and communicate with the community,” Zannelli said. “So, you know, we use force only when absolutely necessary, and we rely on de-escalation. And we’ve had a five year low and civilian complaints, and uses of force because of our emphasis on de-escalation.” 

After discussing potential ways to reform policing in America, the teach-in focused in on the history of policing in New Haven and especially on the Yale Police Department. 

The presentation at the teach-in as well as the pamphlet provided at the event criticized the YPD for being ineffectual. 

“The YPD is not effective, even according to its own definition of success, and Yale’s public safety budget would be put to better use being reinvested in New Haven,” the pamphlet wrote. “By claiming that the YPD keeps us safe, the YPD makes us even more complicit in its harm toward the New Haven Community. We must collectively fight to keep us (New Haveners and Yalies) safe from violent, punitive systems.” 

Ishikaa Kothari ’25, a student organizer for the teach-in, called for the redistribution of Yale’s public safety budget. 

Other activists in New Haven and at Yale, led by Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, have previously advocated for the abolition of YPD.

“The public safety budget is $40.3 million and the amount it donates to the New Haven community is $22.5 million,” Kothari said. “Yale plays a great deal of contributing to the wealth disparity here. And then at the same time, its over policing, causing violence and displacement.” 

Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell ’95 DIV ’09 declined to respond to a request for comment.  

The YPD was established in 1894.

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DeLauro released a statement after her office was vandalized condemning the action.

“Violence, vandalism and the destruction of property are never acceptable,” DeLauro wrote. “Discussion and dialogue are the best way to address serious issues.”

DeLauro also wrote that she is committed to the safety of her staff. 

Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel On Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, according to Israeli officials, as reported by the Associated Press. Israel responded to the attack with a formal declaration of war against Hamas, airstrikes, a siege of Gaza. The Associated Press reported Tuesday afternoon that according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s attacks have killed at least 8,805 Palestinians in Gaza. United Nations officials have called these attacks an “unprecedented catastrophe” and “collective punishment” in violation of international law.

On Oct. 15, Delauro affirmed her support for Israel during an event hosted by Shabtai, a Jewish leadership society at Yale. 

“Israel needs to know and to understand that they do not stand alone,” DeLauro said during the event.

DeLauro also released a statement on Oct. 31 calling for a “humanitarian pause” of Israel’s bombing of Gaza so humanitarian aid, including food, water, medicine and fuel could be brought in. In the statement she also called for the unconditional release of all Israeli hostages — over 230 —  held by Hamas.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Senator Richard Blumenthal also expressed their support for Israel at the Shabtai event. 

On Tuesday, Elicker condemned the graffiti as an inappropriate expression of free speech. 

“Free speech is people’s right but not in this way,” Elicker told the News. “It’s unfortunate that people decided to vandalize the Congresswoman’s office. The police department is investigating to hold individuals accountable.”

The New Haven Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. 

Congresswoman Rose DeLauro has represented Connecticut’s 3rd congressional district since 1991.

Update, Nov. 2: The article has been updated to remove the address of DeLauro’s campaign office for security reasons and include the content of DeLauro’s press release on Oct. 31.

The post DeLauro’s campaign office vandalized with “Free Palestin” and “Blood on ur hands” graffiti appeared first on Yale Daily News.

SHARE is available to all members of the Yale community who are dealing with sexual misconduct of any kind, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence and more. Counselors are available any time, day or night, at the 24/7 hotline: (203) 432-2000. 

Yale Public Safety’s annual statistics release shows an increase in crime over 12 categories, with reported increases in sexual assaults and decreases in robberies and burglaries. This year’s report also made no mention of new policy changes within Yale Public Safety or the Yale Police Department. 

Yale Public Safety published its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on Sept. 28. The report compiles crime statistics between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022, and it includes data from the two previous calendar years. The report also outlines security-related policies and resources at Yale. Compared to the previous two years, reported burglaries, drug arrests and robberies have decreased while reported aggravated assaults, vehicle thefts, stalking and sexual assaults increased.

“Crime data is collected from the [Yale Police Department], New Haven Police Department, and law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions where Yale owns or controls property that is used in support of the educational purpose or academic mission of the university,” YPD Chief Anthony Campbell wrote to the News.

Graph:

The number of reported murder cases fluctuated minimally, rising from zero in 2021 to one in 2022. Total documented robberies have declined from 22 two years ago to nine in 2022. 

Total reported rape cases on Yale’s campus have risen from 18 cases in 2020 and 28 in 2021 to 41 cases in 2022. This comes as students made a full return to campus in 2022 after Yale operated on a hybrid model from March 2020 to August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Campbell theorized that the increase could be due to an increased awareness and reporting of sexual misconduct.

“While we cannot know with certainty the reasons for the increase in sexual assaults reported, this may reflect, at least in part, a growing awareness of the ways in which Yale’s resources can be helpful in addressing instances of sexual misconduct,” Campbell wrote.

On-campus resources that are designed to respond to sexual misconduct include the YPD, the Title IX office, the Office of Gender and Campus Culture and the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Center.

Jason Killheffer, director of Title IX programs on campus, discussed other prevention and awareness efforts such as Yale’s online Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct training module and the Communication and Consent Educators initiative. 

Killheffer added that the increase in reported numbers of sexual assaults at Yale could, in part, potentially be attributed to larger numbers of students returning to campus after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“While we cannot determine with certainty the reasons for an increase in disclosures of sexual misconduct, we – like many of our peer institutions – have noted an uptick in disclosures since the return to on-campus living and learning after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Killheffer wrote.  “In addition, an increase in disclosures may reflect greater awareness of and use of University support resources.”

Yale Public Safety made no major policy changes in the last calendar year. They continue to offer resources such as the LiveSafe App, an app Yale has used since 2015, which provides a real-time Yale Shuttle tracker and security escort service and contains a list of other campus resources.

Another resource that allows students to have input on YPD policymaking is the Yale Police Advisory Board. The six-person board, created in 2019, responds to civilian complaints against the YPD within and outside the Yale community. 

“We’ve been … educated about the law, and what police can and cannot do,” Craig Birckhead-Morton ’24, the Board’s undergraduate representative, said. “If an undergraduate or anybody in the community … wanted to report some sort of police misconduct, we certainly would address that.”

So far this year, according to Birckhead-Morton, the YPAB has not received complaints. Birckhead-Morton said he hopes to promote the YPAB as a resource for students.

“The entire time I’ve been at this university policing has been a huge issue, both here and across the country,” he said. “I think it’s really important that students get more or have more input on the issue.”

Birckhead-Morton was appointed to his position last October by the previous Yale College Council president.

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Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced Wednesday afternoon at a Hartford press conference that Higgins will become the new state public safety chief immediately once Rovella retires next month. 

Rovella, the former police chief in Hartford, was inaugurated as commissioner in December 2018 and oversees six divisions, including the state police, homeland security and state crime lab as commissioner.

The appointment, which goes into effect next month, will end Higgins’ 27-year tenure at the University. 

In the press conference, Governor Lamont praised Higgins’ near 30-year career in Connecticut law enforcement. 

“[Ronnell Higgins] is respected locally and nationally for his knowledge, service and aptitude,” Lamont said. “His experience makes him more than capable of leading this critical, multi-division state agency. I appreciate his willingness to join state service and I look forward to his leadership in this role.” 

Higgins joined the Yale Police Department in 1997 as an officer and has held several key roles within the department over the following decades, including sergeant, patrol commander and lieutenant. In 2011, he became Yale’s Chief of Police and in 2015 became the director of public safety. Since June 2022, Higgins has served as the associate vice president for public safety and community engagement at Yale, responsible for overseeing more than 180 staff and a $32 million operating budget.

Higgins’ tenure at Yale was not without controversy. In 2019, Higgins was in charge of the department when a YPD officer was involved in the shooting of Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon — two unarmed Black New Haven residents — by a Hamden police officer. The officers fired over 16 bullets into the vehicle where Washington and Witherspoon were sitting, injuring Washington.

In 2020, students demanded that the University dismantle YPD. While Higgins disagreed with accusations that the YPD did not keep Black and Brown communities safe, he promised to collaborate with the University and the city to address concerns over YPD’s accountability.

Following continued student pressure in 2023, Higgins oversaw the implementation of a new “differential response model” for emergency calls, which he claimed met student concerns. The new model increased YPD’s use of alternate emergency response techniques, aiming to dispatch the most appropriate personnel for emergency calls. For example, while YPD would respond to calls about an autojacking, security or medical personnel would respond to calls about how to support an intoxicated student.

In August of this year, the Yale Police Benevolent Association, amid contract negotiations, came under fire after distributing “fear-mongering” flyers warning first-year students of crime in New Haven. Higgins denounced the flyers at a news conference with other New Haven officials.

“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. “I am looking forward to applying my experiences, as well as listening, learning, and leading this important, six-division agency.”

In a message to the Yale community, Jack Callahan, senior vice president of operations, announced that he is working with Higgns and John Whelan, Yale’s vice president for human resources, to create an interim leadership structure for Public Safety.

Callahan praised Higgins for his longtime service to the University and noted the work he had done to form connections between Yale Police and New Haven.

“Under [Higgins’] guidance, the Yale Police Department gained national recognition as a model for community engagement,” Callahan wrote. “Recognizing the significance of police and community engagement, he served as Yale’s primary public safety leader and key liaison to our New Haven neighbors.”

Higgins is stepping into the role of commissioner as the Connecticut State Police Department is currently under investigation for allegedly falsifying tens of thousands of tickets over a seven year span, including intentionally undercounting traffic stops of Black and non-white Hispanic drivers.

In July, Lamont appointed former federal prosecutor Diedre Daly to lead an independent investigation into the alleged ticket falsification.

During the same press conference at which Lamont announced Higgins’s promotion, he also announced the retirement of Rovella and Colonel Stavros Mellekas, the top two public safety officials in the state.

Lamont said Higgins would be in charge of finding the replacement for Mellekas as the commanding officer of the state police.

Higgins will need to be confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly, whose 2024 session opens on Feb. 7, 2024. In the meantime, he will serve as interim commissioner. 

The post Ronnell Higgins to leave Yale, appointed state public safety chief appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill into law on June 27. Among other safety-focused transportation guidelines, the law allows municipalities to install automated cameras in roadways. The cameras will photograph the license plates of vehicles that violate traffic rules and automatically mail citations to the vehicle’s owner. 

Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, spoke about what he views as the benefit of automated cameras on public safety in Connecticut. 

“We provided a significant amount of evidence from other states,” Morgan said, “and other studies from the federal government to show the effectiveness that these devices have in terms of reducing speeding, reducing red light running and ultimately reducing crashes and saving people’s lives.”

The use of automated cameras was proposed by the Vision Zero Council, a work group formed across several state agencies tasked with developing policy to reduce transportation-related fatalities, in light of an increase in traffic accidents throughout Connecticut. 

According to Sandeep Aysola, Director of New Haven Transportation, Traffic & Parking Committee, speeding and intersection red light running violations have become issues of serious concern. He provided data from the the UConn Connecticut Traffic Data Repository and stressed the disproportionate impact of these accidents on pedestrians and bicyclists.

Aysola told the News that there were more than 19,000 crashes in New Haven, including 635 bicyclist-related crashes and 462 pedestrian-related crashes all in less than a three-year period from January 2020 through December 2022. Of these, according to Aysola, there were 53 fatal crashes and 259 serious injury crashes.

The bill is an “opt-in” and not a mandate, according to Morgan. While municipalities across the state are not required to install the cameras, the Connecticut DOT will provide guidance to Connecticut towns and cities by Jan. 1, 2024 to aid them in deciding whether and how to implement the cameras. According to Morgan, the automated traffic cameras will likely make their first appearance on Connecticut roadways early next year.

For New Haven to implement an automated enforcement program under the guidelines of the bill, the city’s proposal would need to be discussed in a public hearing, then passed by the Board of Alders, according to the bill.

The proposal, if approved by the governing body, will then go before the Connecticut Department of Transportation, which has 60 days to respond to the municipality and accept or reject the proposal. The local government must provide funding for the implementation, monitoring and maintenance of automated traffic lights. 

Morgan emphasized the importance of learning from other states’ mistakes in the installation of automatic traffic regulation systems, without disproportionately impacting low-incomes communities and communities of color. He mentioned Connecticut’s history of highway construction which disproportionately impacted communities of color. 

In the past, automated cameras have been used predominantly in Black and Brown neighborhoods and low-income areas, Morgan said. 

“It could be used as a political tool in terms of ‘Mayor X doesn’t like their opposing candidate, so they’re going to put these all around their neighborhood’ or vice versa,” he added. “Eliminating that from the equation is so incredibly important.”

The bill specifies that it seeks to “prevent the emergence and persistence of foreseeable future patterns of discrimination or disparities of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status,” and includes socioeconomic measures as considerations in determining the location of automated cameras.

Morgan said that the cameras will be placed in locations identified through data collection as having been frequent sites of traffic accidents in the past. The cameras will also be installed for three-year time periods, after which the department will reassess whether the camera reduced the frequency of accidents.

Aysola wrote that he applauded the state government on passing the bill and believes that its outcome will be successful in reducing transportation-related harms.

“[New Haven] is looking forward to working with the Residents, Community Groups, the Board of Alders and other important stakeholders in implementing initiatives such as the installation of Speed enforcement and Red-light running cameras, creation of Pedestrian Safety and School zones and other traffic safety programs,” he wrote.

Lior Tressman, who is involved with the Safe Streets Coalition of New Haven — an organization that advocates for the elimination of traffic fatalities — said that he believes there is public support in New Haven for installing the cameras.

For Tressman and Safe Streets New Haven, the next step in reducing traffic accidents through automated technology comes in implementation within specific cities and towns.

“New Haven representatives, advocates and elected officials have been pushing through automated enforcement at the statewide level for over a decade,” Tressman said. “There are certainly many, many locations [in New Haven]  that would be appropriate for red light cameras and speed cameras.”

The Connecticut General Assembly’s 2023 legislative session ended on June 7.

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