Yale Daily News

At the conclusion of a contentious two-hour-long community meeting on Monday, AnneMarie Rivera-Berrios was reelected as the chair of the New Haven Civilian Review Board by a margin of a single vote.

Rivera-Berrios has chaired the 11-member board — which monitors and investigates complaints filed against New Haven Police Department officers — since summer 2022. On Monday evening, the board elected its chair, vice chair and secretary, who together comprise its executive committee, for two-year terms.

The elections occurred amid a review of the board’s bylaws sparked by an attempt to remove three board members in August for inadequate meeting attendance. When the city determined that the appointed members could not be removed by the board and reinstated them, the board asked the city’s lawyers to review their bylaws for other possible discrepancies with municipal laws. 

On Monday, five board members voted for Rivera-Berrios, while four voted for John Pescatore, former board vice chair who was removed in August for subpar attendance and later reinstated. One member “passed,” and one was absent.

At the meeting, handouts detailing each member’s attendance at board meetings and participation in reviewing complaints were distributed. From June 2024 to the present, only three members — including Rivera-Berrios — reviewed 100 percent of the cases before the board. Three other members reviewed more than half of the cases, while four more reviewed between one and four of the nine cases. Pescatore reviewed three, according to the handout, and fully attended seven out of thirteen meetings.

One member, Jewu Richardson, reviewed no cases from June until now. Richardson has not attended a board meeting since March 2024.

Subpar attendance is a recurring concern for the board, which needs seven members present at a meeting to reach a quorum. Around 7:55 p.m. on Monday, just before the board began its elections, a board member attending the meeting in person remarked disparagingly that three other members had chosen to attend the meeting on Zoom. A verbal argument ensued, with board members airing exasperation that the meeting, which started at 6 p.m., had already taken up so much time.

Despite frustrations over attendance and efficiency, the board is determined to continue making progress on its mission, multiple board members told the News. Alyson Heimer, the board’s administrator, said that she and Rivera-Berrios have worked to change the board’s process for reviewing cases to allow further oversight. Since January of this year, the board has been allowed to review all civilian cases simultaneously to the police department’s Internal Affairs unit, or IA, instead of only looking at cases that have been closed by IA.

In his remarks at Monday’s meeting, New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson celebrated the change, calling the new process something that “should’ve probably happened in the first place.” He described an ideal system as one where the department would have ninety days to look over an incident, give the case to the civilian review board for sixty days to make recommendations and then allow the chief to make a determination. Jacobson pointed out that such a faster process would be beneficial for both the community member who made the complaint and for the officer being investigated.

Jacobson commended the board members for their volunteer work with the department.

“In the last six months, I’ve gotten a ton of recommendations from you, and I wanted to thank you for that,” he said at the meeting. “It’s definitely the most recommendations I’ve seen since I’ve been chief.”

To allow board members to bond and connect with each other, Heimer described plans underway for an overnight retreat for the full board in a hotel outside of New Haven. She said that the retreat was suggested by the city’s corporation counsel, a team of lawyers, and that she was collecting proposals from trainers who could lead the board members in exercises to build leadership and teamwork skills. The estimated cost of the excursion, which would include all meals and hotel accommodations for the members, is $25,000.

While most board members agreed that some kind of bonding experience was much needed, others were adamant that an extended retreat was not the right solution. Board member and Alder Frank Redente expressed that he would not be able to commit to an overnight program away from New Haven due to his multiple professional obligations.

Heimer, meanwhile, explained that the decision to host the retreat outside the city was to ensure it would be on “neutral territory.”

“Corporation counsel recommended a retreat to help board members connect with one another, and move forward, in their work as a unified force,” she said at the meeting.

For the board, “moving forward” will also entail filling vacant roles. After the board’s attorney resigned in August, the civilian review board put out a request for applications for a legal counsel position. Upon twice receiving no proposals, the board was allowed to begin the process of seeking out their own hire. Kenneth Krayeske, a civil rights attorney who was recommended for the state-level position of Department of Corrections ombudsman but ultimately passed over for the position, expressed his interest in the role at Monday’s meeting.

In addition to Rivera-Berrios, board members Sergio Rodriguez and Nina Fawcett will sit on the executive committee as vice chair and secretary, respectively.