David Zannelli’s wife, Natasha, and their three kids — Santino, Cristina, and Michael — watched proudly from the front row.
After spending the past four months leading the city’s police department in an acting capacity, David Zannelli raised his right hand on Tuesday and swore to “faithfully and impartially perform the duties of police chief.”
He then officially began his first four-year term as the city’s head of police.
On Tuesday afternoon, Zannelli, 41, took the oath of office at City Hall in front of more than 100 friends, family members, and colleagues. His swearing-in took place a day after the Board of Alders unanimously voted to approve Zannelli’s appointment as police chief.
The ceremony was peppered with a boisterous song from the Hillhouse marching band and solemn prayers led by Pastor John Lewis. Zannelli’s wife, Natasha, and their three children — Cristina, 12, Michael, 11, and Santino, 9 — sat in the front row.
Zannelli has been a police officer in New Haven for 19 years. Over his tenure, he has served as a district manager in Fair Haven, a sergeant in the Major Crimes Unit, and a lieutenant in charge of Internal Affairs, among other roles.
Mayor Justin Elicker tapped Zannelli to step into the role of acting police chief on Jan. 5, soon after Zannelli’s predecessor, Karl Jacobson, abruptly retired. Zannelli was one of the assistant chiefs that confronted Jacobson about his alleged theft of public money. Jacobson has subsequently been arrested, and has pleaded not guilty to two larceny charges.
Taking over in the midst of scandal has shown him that “trust is fragile,” Zannelli told the Independent on Tuesday.
“Before the details of what happened [with Jacobson] came out, people had a lot of questions. I think we’re in a better place now,” he said. He credits the department’s strong, long-standing relationships with the community for stabilizing trust in the institution. “Some of the relationships that you see with the alders and community members — they didn’t just form in a year or two. It’s been 19 years.”
He acknowledged that “there is always room for improvement” when it comes to trust, and he plans to increase engagement with young people during his tenure. For instance, Zannelli has already started staffing middle schools with city cops, called school resource officers (SROs).
A major lesson learned from his last four months as chief is “trying to listen more” to cops and community members “before making a final judgment,” he said. To do so, he has attended eight community management team meetings.
Conversations with community leaders led Zannelli to implement more walking and bike beats. “Everybody has been pretty universal in saying they want to see more police,” he said. Neighbors hope to see those officers address open-air drug use and vandalism, as well as gun violence.
While many want to see more police presence, Zannelli estimates that 2 percent of people “are really hell-bent on not trusting law enforcement.”
“Those are the biggest challenges,” he said. “Those are the ones I intend to try and tackle” as police chief.
Mayor Justin Elicker: “He’s [Zannelli’s] earned my trust.”
Lots of hugs and congratulations for Zannelli.