Mayor, Police Chief address crime concerns in New Haven

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- New Haven police are hoping the number of homicides will remain on the decline this year. Deadly shootings in the city dropped significantly in 2012, but the police chief says there is still more work to be done.

The shooting of a 16-month-old toddler on the front porch of his home, an unintended target of apparent gang retaliation, underscores the violence on the streets of New Haven in 2012.

However, overall, compared to a deadly 2011 homicides dropped 50 percent, and shooting victims decreased by a third.

"Quieter and need to get better," said New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. "I think there's still a lot of concern in our community about violence. I think it's right and I think we have a ways to go, I don't think 2012 is where we need to be, we have a lot further as a community to go." 

Police Chief Dean Esserman agrees.

He credits a comprehensive tactical approach that included neighborhood policing and hiring more officers to bringing down the violence last year.
 
"All New Haven police officers will begin their career walking the beat, building relationships, building trust in the community," said Chief Dean Esserman, NHPD.

That community partnership, he stresses, is key to saving lives throughout the Elm City.

"This is about people and families," Chief Esserman said. "I don't make any distinction between any neighborhood, any name, any number or any family. When you have to go to the hospital and tell a mother she lost her child, that's what stays with me."   

The priority now is resetting expectations, which the Mayor says requires a different set of intervention.

"In other words, banning assault weapons/rifles doesn't solve the problem of someone letting loose on Kensington Street with a 350 handgun that wounds an infant sitting in her aunt's arms," Mayor DeStefano said.

Developing and implementing further strategies to combat gang violence are also on the 'must do' list.  

Chief Esserman says the rebuilding of the police department is ongoing. The goal is to hire close to 100 new officers as they move forward, but that will also depend on the city and state budgets.