New Haven police chief abruptly retires after theft allegations, mayor says

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — New Haven’s police chief abruptly retired following allegations he stole money from a department account, Mayor Justin Elicker announced Monday.

The Democrat said Chief Karl Jacobson admitted he took money from a city fund that compensates confidential informants for helping police solve crimes.

He said the chief acknowledged taking the funds for personal use when three of his deputies confronted him Monday morning over the financial irregularities.

Elicker called the allegations “shocking” and a “betrayal of public trust.”

“No one is above the law,” he said in an evening press conference at the police station. “We put our trust in law enforcement to uphold the law, not to violate the law themselves.”

Jacobson didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment Monday. He had served as police chief in one of Connecticut’s largest cities and home to Yale University for more than three years.

The mayor said he was set to meet with Jacobson and place him on administrative leave when the chief instead submitted his paperwork to retire, effective Monday.

Elicker said it’s unclear how much and for how long Jacobson had been taking money from the informants’ account and that it doesn’t appear others were involved. He said city officials are cooperating with state investigators looking into the matter.

Elicker said he has tapped Assistant Police Chief David Zannelli, who was among the officers to confront Jacobson over the funds, to serve as interim chief.

Jacobson took office in July 2022, just weeks after a Black man was paralyzed in the back of a police van in an incident that roiled the police department and the city.

Five officers were arrested in connection with the mistreatment of Richard “Randy” Cox, who suffered a neck injury and was left paralyzed from the chest down when the police van with no seat belts he was in 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 he could be disciplined. One of the fired officers won his job back after an appeal.

Jacobson had been with the department for 15 years before being named chief. He previously served in the East Providence Police Department in Rhode Island for nine years.