Armed Patrol wants New Haven residents to take safety into their own hands despite opposition
There’s a new push by some in the Elm City to have armed patrols out on the streets as a means to address crime. But community activists and the New Haven mayor say it’s a bad idea.
Cornell Lewis runs the Self-Defense Brigade, which provides training for residents on how to protect themselves through martial arts and legally obtained weapons.
He says he’s recently been contacted by three New Haven residents who are looking to obtain training and take matters into their own hands. Of those three residents, one is from an apartment complex in Westville where there has recently been a string of car break-ins, according to Lewis.
“We have to meet with them and then we will lay out how we’re doing it here in Hartford, and then we will go through the steps. After that, they may have to modify what we’re doing to fit their situation.”
Lewis says dozens are involved in the organization, which currently has chapters in New London and Norwich. He says the he started the group because politicians were not doing enough to address gun violence.
“We’re not a bunch of rag-tag, crazy-eyed vigilantes running around. We have a right to carry our guns,” he said. “In the past, we used the same strategy in the North end (of Hartford) to run out two gangs.”
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam told News 8 “community residents here in Hartford have roundly denounced this” and that he is working with other organizations such as the NAACP and Mothers United Against Violence to come up with alternative solutions.
New Haven mayor Justin Elicker also strongly opposes the idea of armed patrols in his city.
“It’s a bad idea and it’s not welcome and there’s a number of reasons for that. We need fewer guns on our street, not more,” he said.
Elicker says while there is more work to be done to prevent gun violence in the city, crime rates have dropped by 42% from 2023 to 2024.
Data shared with News 8 by the city shows the number of people shot this year is sitting at 25, compared to 38 at this time last year.
For homicides, there have been four compared to 11 at this time last year, and for the number of shots fired, 21 – as opposed to 27 in 2023.
Leonard Jahad with the Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention program, which provides programs to youth about crime intervention, also says guns are not the answer.
“We don’t need people out there taking things into their own hands. It’s proven in other places that it hasn’t worked – and it won’t work here in New Haven also,” Jahad told News 8.
But Dexter Burke, who is currently conducting armed patrols with the Self-Defense Brigade following a fatal shooting near his church on Garden Street in Hartford, says their operation is effective.
“Thanks be to God, we’ve had no crime on Garden Street, no serious shooting since then…so it is making progress,” he said.
Burke also said the group wears body cameras and shares pertinent information related to crime in the area with police. Hartford police tell News 8 they are not commenting at this time. News 8 also has not yet heard back from the New Haven Police Department.
As for Lewis, he says he will be meeting and training the residents in New Haven over the next week. Elicker says he wants these residents considering engaging in armed patrols to contact him to discuss alternative solutions to addressing gun violence. Lewis says he is willing to come to the table with the mayor.
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
) and far less antagonistic.
