East Haven Police Department Officers Attend Detective School At Yale

EAST HAVEN, CT — Four East Haven police detectives were among the more than 100 police officers from across the state to attend the Office of the Chief State's Attorney's four-day "Detective School" at Yale University. The "comprehensive detective training course" for officers from 40 departments across Connecticut was held in coordination with the Yale University Police Department at Yale's West Campus in Orange.

East Haven police detectives Monique Colbert, John Fraenza, Jon Trinh and Fred Sego were among the officers who participated. The "school" was "focused on the interdependence of prosecutors and police in investigating crimes and presenting evidence in court, and examined law enforcement procedures, recently passed legislation regarding law enforcement and witness protection."

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin, State’s Attorneys David R. Applegate, Joseph T. Corradino, Michael A. Gailor, Margaret E. Kelley, Paul J. Narducci and Christian M. Watson and prosecutors and staff from the Division of Criminal Justice’s Appellate Bureau, Witness Protection Unit, Juvenile Matters and Ansonia/Milford and New Haven Judicial Districts led the training that ran from July 31 through Aug. 4.

Griffin held training sessions on courtroom demeanor and testifying and identification procedures. Training at the Division has increased substantially since Griffin created the Office of Ethics and Professional Standards two months after his May 2022 appointment by the Criminal Justice Commission.

“It’s important that we find the time for more interaction between prosecutors and police so we get the opportunity to train together and exchange ideas,” Griffin said. “Though prosecutors and police share a desire to achieve justice, there are differences in how we approach this goal so training sessions like this provide us with the forum we need to compare notes and strategies and to debate the merits of each approach so we can prompt further thought and discussion about best practices.”

Griffin appointed longtime prosecutor Lisa M. D’Angelo as an Executive Assistant State’s Attorney to serve as the Director of the new Office of Ethics and Professional Standards.

The Office directs the development, implementation and evaluation of updated ethical and professional standards for the Division and runs a comprehensive program of in-service staff development and training for prosecutors, inspectors and other Division staff, as well as training for law enforcement officers.

The 2023 Detective School follows a one-day seminar held by the Division last September in which nearly 700 police officers and law enforcement officials participated.

“The Office of the Chief State's Attorney Detective School brought together prosecutors and law enforcement officers from throughout the state to discuss important topics impacting criminal prosecutions,” Executive Assistant State’s Attorney D’Angelo said. “We are grateful to the Chiefs of Police for their support of our initiative and for their ongoing collaboration.”

Yale University Police Department Chief Anthony Campbell helped facilitating the use of the university’s West Campus Conference Center.

“For us, we are always striving for greater collaboration and professionalization of our department and our craft so when we get the tip of the spear, which are the prosecutors, to come and share with us information, and the way in which that information helps the community, helps bring about justice, you can’t get any better than that,” Campbell said.

“Prosecutors have a perspective that, when combined with the perspective of a detective, truly brings about justice. You can’t have one without the other because both are really there to serve the community and family members and those who have suffered an injustice," he said. "This four-day training provides a sharpening of iron with iron. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so does one human being sharpen another.’ That’s what’s happening over those four days. The detectives are being sharpened by the prosecutors and the prosecutors are sharpening themselves against the detectives, and that’s a great process.”