The chair of the West Haven Board of Police Commissioners is resigning following an incident last month in which he was wrongfully allowed into the Police Department’s lockup area to berate a father who is accused of trying to drown his two children.
Raymond Collins III, who said it is not related to him berating the suspect, filed his resignation as a police commissioner on June 28, a little less than a week after 41-year-old Romney Desronvil, of Queens, N.Y., was arrested on attempted murder , child endangerment and reckless endangerment charges. Police allege that Desronvil brought his twin toddlers — who were just under 3 years old — to a West Haven beach on June 22 and began swimming out into the Long Island Sound in the early morning hours in what police say was an attempt to drown the children.
An officer who happened to be making his nightly rounds at the city’s beaches, enforcing a curfew, heard the children’s screams for help and radioed for backup before the twins were saved and Desronvil was arrested. The children were treated in the Intensive Care Unit and were released after spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, where they celebrated their 3rd birthday.
Collins, who has been a police commissioner in West Haven for 14 years, told The Courant he was with his grandson when he received a phone call and learned of the attempted drowning. He then traveled to the Police Department and had a desk sergeant let him into the lockup area where the suspect was being held, he said.
“For the 15 seconds I talked to him I told him I’m a grandfather of five children, all the same age, and I hope he rots in hell for all of eternity,” Collins said. “And I turned around and I walked out.”
“Everyone’s tensions and emotions were running high after the horrific incident that occurred on June 22, and it was inappropriate for me to speak to him from the hallway outside the jail cell,” Collins said. “As a father and a grandfather, the actions of this deranged individual are sickening and unimaginable. I pray for the children and the mother that had to live through this traumatic ordeal.
“I hope the justice system rains down a severe penalty and sends a clear message that the safety of our children is of the utmost importance.”
Collins insists his resignation was unrelated to his action and that it will allow him to spend more time campaigning for a state representative bid.
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Videos of the incident, released to the Hartford Courant through a Freedom of Information request, show the interaction from a view in the hallway and one inside Desronvil’s cell. A policeman and Collins can be seen in the video walking through the cell block hallway area and approaching the cell, where the sergeant bangs on a clear window, which appears to either wake Desronvil up or at least alert him that someone wished to speak to him.
Desronvil can be seen sitting up before standing and looking toward Collins and the sergeant, the latter of whom appears to move away to allow Collins to speak, the short video shows. There is no audio accompanying the videos.
At one point during the short interaction, Collins appears to take a somewhat confrontational stance.
After speaking to Desronvil for several seconds, Collins and the sergeant can be seen walking out of the lockup area and leaving, the video shows. Desronvil after the encounter takes a seated position where he remains for several seconds.
“Upon learning of the incident, Commissioner Collins and I met and he has tendered his resignation which I believe is the best course of action for the city to continue to move forward,” West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer said in a statement.
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Borer confirmed to The Courant that there were no allegations that Collins made any threats during the incident. She also said there is currently no internal affairs investigation involving the sergeant who allowed Collins into the lockup area, though he has been informed police commissioners going forward should not be given that type of privilege, as it falls outside the scope of the board’s responsibilities.
Collins told The Courant that his resignation from the Board of Police Commissioners came after months of thought, which led to him conclude that, between serving as a commissioner and working a full-time job, he would need more time to campaign in his quest to serve as a state representative for the 117th House of Representatives District. Collins earlier this year accepted a nomination from Republican delegates in Milford, West Haven and Orange.
Collins’ insists his resignation, which will take effect Aug. 1, was not connected to the incident involving Desronvil. He said he met with Borer about a week after and decided it was the right time to focus on his campaign.
Collins noted that his most recent term as a police commissioner had come to an end in January and that he has continued serving on the commission in an “at-will” capacity.
“I’m proud of my tenure and now I have to focus on moving on to my next venture,” he said.
Collins stepping away from the Board of Police Commissioners comes on the heels of reports that the incident in June was not the first time the lines have become blurred between a commissioner’s responsibilities and those of a police officer. He has been known to show up to crime scenes like an investigator would, though he denies ever doing anything inappropriate.
“I’ve always been an active police commissioner and have shown up to see what’s going on at crime scenes,” Collins said. “I wouldn’t handle the investigation, but I like to be kept involved. I’ve been a very active police commissioner.”
“I would ask the lead investigator what was going on,” he said.
Dr. John DeCarlo, director of the Master’s Program in criminal justice at the University of New Haven who retired as a police chief in Branford in 2011, told The Courant police commissioners in New England and Connecticut in particular serve a much different role than those in most other states — where a commissioner generally heads up a police department and its daily operations. In Connecticut, police commissions are usually made up of appointed civilians whose duties do not expand beyond budgetary responsibilities and other similar functions.
“They’re a very regional thing,” DeCarlo said. “They do not have arrest powers.”
“I can’t really speak to West Haven, but it would be highly unusual for police commissioners to have access to prisoners and be involved in the actual operation of the police department,” he said.
When asked if some police commissions in the state would be granted access to a prisoner area, DeCarlo said “I highly doubt it.”
“I doubt that the chief would allow that,” he said, adding that a commissioner is not generally granted any more access in a police department than that of a politician or civilian.
Asked whether the interaction with Desronvil could impact legal proceedings, DeCarlo said there are too many unknown factors involved to say. He noted, however, “Police officers aren’t really supposed to express their personal opinions toward suspects.”
The case against Desronvil remains pending in Superior Court in Milford. He is being held on $2 million bond and has not entered a plea.
Online court records show Desronvil is not represented by an attorney.
West Haven Police Chief Joseph Perno has not responded to multiple voicemail messages seeking comment.
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