Committee of the Whole forwards James C. Ravella for Hartford police chief after Q&A on staffing, oversight and immigration

Hartford’s Committee of the Whole voted Aug. 20 to send a favorable recommendation to the full City Council for Mayor Ari Lampalom’s nomination of James C. Ravella as chief of the Hartford Police Department after a one-item hearing and extended question-and-answer session.

The hearing focused on department staffing and recruitment, officer wellness and employee retention, the relationship and timing of investigations with the city’s inspector general, and whether the department will cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The committee advanced the nomination with the majority voting to forward a favorable recommendation; two members voted no.

Ravella, introduced to the committee as James C. Ravella and described in the hearing as the city’s interim chief before the nomination, reviewed his career in Hartford and at the state level and outlined immediate priorities if confirmed. He said he began his career in Hartford in 1981, later led cold-case units for the office of the chief state’s attorney, served as a state police commissioner-level official overseeing multiple divisions and then returned to Hartford as interim chief. “I’m honored to be nominated as the next chief of police for the city of Hartford,” Ravella told the committee.

On staffing, Ravella said the department is funded for 491 officer positions and that the department’s currently deployed staffing has been around 440 officers. He described a multi-part recruitment strategy that includes filling cadet slots; running overlapping academy classes; targeted outreach to Hispanic communities; encouraging lateral hires; and expanding visible community patrols, including near schools. “We’re going to start hitting meetings. They’re all going to see us out there,” he said when describing plans to put officers into neighborhood meetings and NRZs (neighborhood revitalization zones).

Ravella described recent academy classes and upcoming cadet graduations, the use of multiple training academies to increase throughput, and a focus on retaining younger officers by creating advancement pathways. He credited human resources and procurement for support in recruitment and outfitting and named Sergeant Steve Austin as a lead on city-side recruiting and cadet instruction.

Committee members pressed Ravella for documents and clarity on staffing studies. Councilman Josh Mitcham asked for the earlier analysis that produced higher recommended staffing levels; Ravella said he would look for the study (he cited a past analysis that targeted roughly 481 officers from a study around 2016–2017) and send it to the council president. Ravella specified that some funding comes from COPS grants.

Members questioned how complaints against officers are handled between Hartford Police Department (HPD) internal affairs and the city inspector general (IG). Ravella described the investigative process as parallel: “We’re sending him things, and he has independent investigators of his own,” and said the IG’s investigators typically have a 45-day window while the department’s administrative window is 60 days. He said he would review the timing and delivery process to avoid handicapping the IG’s ability to perform an independent review, but he did not commit to a specific procedural change on the record.

Immigration enforcement prompted the most pointed exchanges. Council members asked whether HPD would refuse cooperation with federal immigration agents (ICE) even if agents acted without a warrant. Ravella repeatedly said the department must follow state law and city policy. He described the department’s current approach as limited cooperation in narrow circumstances — persons convicted of A- or B-level felonies, active arrest warrants or credible terrorist threats — and said violations of department orders carry disciplinary consequences. “My officers are very well trained on what they can do and can’t do in regards to our departmental order,” he said. He declined to promise a blanket refusal of any cooperation with federal agents and said he would follow city and state law and existing ordinances.

Several council members, including Councilman Josh Mitcham, said that answer was insufficient and argued the city needs an unequivocal promise that HPD will protect residents from federal actions that violate state law. Mitcham, who said he would vote against advancing the nomination, said, “If our police chief can’t say that he will stand up for our residents, he’s not the guy.”

Other council members asked about officer wellness, diversity in the rank-and-file and leadership ranks, red-light and speed camera programs around schools, and the role of specialized response teams. Ravella said the department has an employee-assistance program with outsourced mental-health and medical providers, will expand training and fitness options, and plans to make command staff more visible at NRZ meetings. He also said morale has improved since he took the interim role and that the department expects contract negotiations next year to be an important moment for retention.

A motion to forward a favorable recommendation to the full council was made and seconded; the committee chair called the voice vote, the ayes prevailed and the committee recorded two opposing votes. The committee’s favorable recommendation moves the nomination to the full City Council for final confirmation.

The nomination and the committee’s discussion underscore immediate operational topics for the next chief: recruiting and retaining officers, clarifying internal discipline and IG coordination, and firming policy limits around cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The full council is scheduled to consider the mayor’s nomination at a future meeting date not specified during the committee session.