New Haven police chief leaving; alder calls warning about department ‘blackmail’

Anthony Campbell salutes the American Flag at his induction ceremony as chief of the New Haven Police Department, Tuesday, June 20, 2017, at New Haven City Hall.

Anthony Campbell salutes the American Flag at his induction ceremony as chief of the New Haven Police Department, Tuesday, June 20, 2017, at New Haven City Hall. Photo: Catherine Avalone / Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register Photo: Catherine Avalone / Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close New Haven police chief leaving; alder calls warning about department ‘blackmail’ 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — The mass exodus of tenured police in New Haven has a new member: Chief Anthony Campbell.

Campbell, an officer here for 21 years, the last two as chief, will leave at the end of March over proposed changes in health coverage for police retirees.

Police have been without a contract for three years.

The chief has been warning the city administration that the hollowing out of the department, which is 377, down from 495 budgeted positions, will continue as officers, new and seasoned, are lured by suburban departments that pay more for less dangerous work and offer better benefits.

Campbell said he was not planning to leave right now until he met with aldermanic leadership three weeks ago to explain that high-level police brass and others with experience would continue to leave over the proposed retirement medical benefits.

Under Campbell, violent crime has dropped precipitously. He will remain in the area, taking a position as inspector with New Haven State’s Attorney Pat Griffin’s office after leaving the police department March 29.

At least two other assistant chiefs in New Haven also were interested in working for Griffin.

Campbell said that means the most experienced personnel would only have 11 years on the job, putting the department in a position of having to call in the state police to assist with city problems.

Forty-nine officers retired from the department last year, while 10 more have put in for retirement in the past four weeks. He said 39 more are in a position to retire.

He said Alder Dolores Colon, D-6, told him in that meeting with the leadership: “I feel you are blackmailing us,” with these stories.

Campbell said she then told him if he gets an offer to leave, “just go,” and if the experience level of the force drops significantly, “so be it.”

The chief was asking that he and the four assistant chiefs be placed in the executive management grouping to protect the retirement benefits they were promised two decades ago for themselves and their families, something he said the city’s personnel office told the alders would not be a costly change.

“It is not cool with me to have my integrity and morals questioned,” Campbell said. “My hope for the future is that Mayor (Toni) Harp can get the leadership of the alders to work with her. She has the best interest of the city at heart, even to her own detriment. I don’t know that is the same for the leadership of the alders.”

“I hope this is a wake-up call,” Campbell said. He said police officers and brass feel they can’t risk drastic changes in retirement benefits if the city’s proposed offer in binding arbitration is accepted.

The chiefs are not in the union, but get the same benefits as the rank and file once a contract is settled. Campbell said they are executives running what is comparable to a business and should be treated as such.

Campbell said he now makes $162,000 and will earn in the mid- $80,000 as an inspector. His pension will pay $120,000 a year.

He said he is not leaving for the money, “but to secure what I have.” The chief said he had planned to leave in fall in any event.

“You should never leave a job for money. You should go to what God lays on your heart. This is what I’m going to do,” Campbell said.

He said Colon first praised him for the dropping crime statistics under his tenure, before she doubted his projections.

He said he can’t work in a place “where my character is questioned.” Campbell said he has always led with transparency, dignity and honor and in his two decades with the force never had anyone accuse him of blackmailing them.

Harp issued a statement on Campbell’s decision to retire.

“Chief Campbell’s command these past few years has been characterized by the lowest violent crime rates in the history of the city — and they’re still trending downward. He’s done a great job and we’ll be sorry to see him go. I’m so grateful for the chief’s steadfast service to the city and its police department these past 20-plus years. On behalf of city residents, property owners, and business operators, I thank him for that time with us and wish him Godspeed going forward.”

His leaving comes at a time when a number of top managers in the school system have resigned and there is turnover in Harp’s management team.

New Haven, which saw an 11 percent tax increase last year and controversial borrowing after state funding to the city dropped half way through the fiscal year, is looking to hold the line on expenses as Harp approaches an expected primary fight in September.

The alders had said that the top brass should not get raises until a contract with the rank and file was reached, but Harp did give them raises, setting off another confrontation with the alders on whose call this was.

Some critics of Campbell’s request said the chiefs should not get a benefit unavailable to the rest of the department.

Campbell, 45, said the police have seen wages frozen and medical costs increase, but the proposed retirement medical benefits will negatively hurt his family and other officers’ families.

Twenty years ago, when he first came on the job, the retirement medical benefits covered himself and his family. It subsequently was changed to a cost of $140 a month for retirees and currently is $540 a month. The proposed contract removes the $540 cap on the monthly retiree contribution.

For younger officers, the retiree medical benefit would continue to be streamlined, from covering families to only the officer and his or her spouse, to eventually only the retiree.

Campbell said Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers said a definitive “no” to the proposal to shift the chiefs to executive management. He said she called a few days later and said they were willing to continue talking, but by then he had applied for the inspector position. He hopes they do reconsider for the benefit of others.

Neither Colon nor Walker-Myers returned attempts to get a comment on Campbell’s retirement.

Late Friday, Majority Leader Richard Furlow issued a statement calling it “unfortunate” that the chief “had decided to retire before discussions were finished, but we wish him much success in his new venture with the State of Connecticut.”

“The Board of Alders unanimously supports without compromise all of the New Haven Police Department regardless of their rank ... It is our expectation to continue the good working relationship we have shared for years ..., “ Furlow wrote.

“We have tremendous respect for the entire force and we will not allow partial comments taken out of context to blemish that perception or deter from the work we recognize our officers of all ranks do day and night to keep New Haven safe,” Furlow said.

Police negotiations now are in binding arbitration and for the 2019-20 budget the department will request funding for 430 officers.

Assistant Chief Otoniel Reyes will step in as interim police chief.

Every month more police officers have retired from the department over the proposed health care changes and wages that don’t reach the level of area towns.

Campbell said for himself, high medical costs are not theoretical after a family member had a long hospitalization.

He also was seriously hurt when he was hit by a car driven by a fleeing suspect early in his career. It took him a year to learn to walk again and two years to regain use of his right arm. Campbell said he has a 35 percent disability in his neck and arm.

He said he expects there will be ramifications from those injuries as he gets older. As the sole supporter of his family, with one son heading for college, he said he could not jeopardize future medical coverage.

The chief said when he was injured, he lost some rental properties he had invested in because he could not earn the extra income needed to maintain and pay the mortgage, forcing him to file for bankruptcy.

“I have made sacrifices. My entire family has made sacrifices,” Campbell said.

Campbell said as management, it seemed logical to be placed with the executive management group. He said the change was supported by Stephen Librandi, the city’s manager of human resources, hand by acting Chief Administrative Officer Sean Matteson. The chief said he was approached by the assistant chiefs to bring the idea to the alders.

He said he didn’t aspire to be an assistant chief under former Police Chief Dean Esserman and didn’t ask to be the acting chief when Esserman was put on leave and eventually retired. He didn’t apply for the inspector job until two weeks ago.

“I generally believe God orders the step of his people ordained,” Campbell said. He said when one door closed, another opened and “God ushered me right through.”

Campbell, who graduated from Yale College, earned a master’s of divinity from the Yale Divinity School.

Last month, Campbell and Harp held a press conference on crime statistics for 2018.

There were 10 homicides, two of which are being investigated by Griffin’s office as self-defense.

“The real heroes that make all of this happen are the men and women who put on a uniform that bears the name New Haven and a name tag that represents their family,” Campbell said at the time. “The roughly 400 of this department have made good on their promise to serve and protect.”

The number of homicides in 2016 through 2018 is still less than the 34 recorded in 2011.

“That is significant,” Campbell said then. “That is progress. That is lives being changed and saved. Not many people can say that what they do changes and saves lives.”

“We’ve been able to have this level of success because the officers are dedicated. They’re working a lot of overtime, but you can only push people for so long before you start running into problems, compromising officer safety and being able to handle calls in a timely fashion,” the chief said, addressing the overtime budgets that are always in deficit.

Campbell sent a letter and a video to the members of the police department on his decision to retire.

He told them to “keep fighting for what is right. Keep doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. And fight for recognition, not just with this city administration, but with all city officials for what you do. Because what you do makes all the difference in every citizen’s live in this city.”

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577