New Haven Police to resume informant program after chief's alleged theft

The City of New Haven announced it will soon resume its confidential informant program.

It was put on hold after the former police chief allegedly admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from it.

Now six weeks after the chief’s sudden retirement and the accusations were revealed, the confidential program will restart.

“We’re committed to ensuring confidential informant funds are used properly and that this type of misuse of funds does not happen again,” Mayor Justin Elicker said.

A state investigation is still underway into Karl Jacobson allegedly admitting to stealing $10,000 from the confidential informant program.

Authorities say officers found some issues in the program’s account used to pay informants, and confronted Jacobson, who allegedly then admitted to the theft.

Police say Jacobson had previously refused to allow others to have access to the account and it’s not clear at this point if proper audits had been done.

Police and the mayor promise changes are underway to help prevent wrongdoing in the future.

Now the city is rolling out new temporary rules for the program including:

• Replenishing the fund will require proof the money was spent
• City staff will review the documentation and have to approve it
• There will also be monthly, quarterly, and yearly audits involving people outside the police department
• And finally the money for the program will be stored more securely

“The cash reserve will now be secured inside a digital safe located in a restricted room at the New Haven Police Department. This dedicated room will have limited keycard access and will be monitored by video surveillance at all times,” said Acting Chief David Zannelli.

The city wants to get the program going again in about two weeks.

Police say it was important to resume the program as it helps solve crimes.

The city is also bringing in an outside firm to come up with new permanent policies.

“The temporary policy is clearly enough to ensure that there aren’t going to be problems,” Mayor Elicker said.

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