The Danbury City Council voted 18-2 last week to change the city’s police hiring rules, allowing lawful permanent residents and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, to apply for jobs as city police officers.
The amendment brings Danbury’s hiring ordinance in line with standards set by Connecticut’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which opened eligibility to lawful permanent residents in 2020 and to DACA recipients earlier this year.
Council member Candace Fay, a Republican, was one of two members who voted against the change. She told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends First” that she sees no practical need behind the policy.
“I don’t think it is in any way intended to make our city feel safer. There’s no public policy reason behind what the council did. There’s no overarching need for police officers in our city. There’s no demand that this will meet. It was done simply as a political narrative, overwhelmingly done by virtue signaling, and it’s further dividing our city,” Fay said.
Fay argued that U.S. citizenship should remain a requirement for officers who carry powers of arrest and use of force.
“I’m asking for an objective standard. I’m asking that someone be a citizen. That’s it,” Fay said. “That’s not overly egregious. It’s not considering where they were born. It’s not considering their ethnicity or even whether they’re a good person. It is a reasonably objective standard whether they should be a citizen in order to be a police officer and enforce the state of Connecticut laws over citizens.”
She also pushed back against suggestions that her opposition was rooted in racism, saying her concern is limited to whether people exercising police powers should hold U.S. citizenship.
Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, a Democrat, defended the vote as a matter of opening opportunity to residents already living in the city. According to the Danbury News-Times, Alves said the vote “was about removing an unnecessary barrier for qualified people who already call Danbury home and want to serve their community.”
Council member Joe Britton, a Democrat, offered a similar defense of the policy change.
“Danbury is an immigrant city and I believe someone who is lawfully here, committed to our community and willing to raise their hand and take an oath to protect and serve should have the opportunity to do so,” Britton said.
City records show Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour took part in an April committee discussion on the proposal, where he described police recruitment as a challenge and said the department wants to attract the “best qualified candidates.” Neither the city council nor Ridenhour responded to requests for comment from Fox News before the segment aired Tuesday morning.
