New Haven police chief abruptly retires after theft allegations, mayor says
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — New Haven’s police chief is abruptly retiring following allegations that he stole money from a department account, Mayor Justin Elicker announced Monday.
The Democrat said Chief Karl Jacobson admitted to taking money from a city fund that compensates confidential informants for helping police solve crimes.
The president said he admitted taking the funds for personal use when three aides confronted him Monday morning about financial irregularities.
Elicker called the allegations “shocking” and a “betrayal of the public trust.”
“No one is above the law,” he said at an evening press conference at the police station. “We rely on law enforcement to enforce the law, not to violate it.”
Jacobson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. He had served for more than three years as police chief in one of Connecticut’s largest cities and the site of Yale University.
The mayor said he was prepared to meet with Jacobson and would place him on administrative leave once the chief files his paperwork to retire starting Monday.
Elicker said it was unclear how much and for how long Jacobson withdrew money from the informants’ accounts, and that others did not appear to be involved. He said city officials are cooperating with state investigators investigating the matter.
Elicker said he appointed Deputy Police Chief David Zannelli, who was among the officers to confront Jacobson about the funds, as interim chief.
jacobson He took office in July 2022Just weeks after the death of a black man He was paralyzed in the back of the police van in an incident that shook the police department and the city.
5 police officers arrested for ill-treatment Richard “Randy” CoxHe was injured in the neck and left paralyzed from the chest down when the police van he was in, without a seatbelt, braked hard to avoid an accident and sent him flying into a metal partition.
Jacobson recommended firing four of the officers, and the city’s police commissioners terminated them. The fifth officer retired before disciplinary action could be taken. One of the dismissed officers got his job back after an appeal.
Jacobson had been with the department for 15 years before being appointed chief. He previously served nine years with the East Providence Police Department in Rhode Island.
