The New Haven Police Commission has yet to decide whether to fire one of the police officers charged in the 2022 arrest of Randy Cox, which left him paralyzed after riding in a police van.
The city’s Police Commission decided Thursday to table a vote on whether Jocelyn Lavandier should be fired. Police Chief Karl Jacobson recommended last month that Lavandier and three other officers charged in the case be terminated from the department.
The recommendation came after an internal affairs investigation concluded the officers violated department policy and the law in Cox’s arrest. While Lavandier is the first to be considered for termination, the commission did not indicate when it will meet again to vote on her fate or that of the other police officers.
According to previous reporting from Connecticut Public, the commission would decide whether to terminate the four officers by April or May.
Cox was paralyzed in June of last year after he was arrested on gun charges, which were later dropped. Cox was transported in a police van that abruptly came to a stop. The driver, Oscar Diaz, said he stopped the car in an attempt to avoid an accident.
The sudden stop made Cox fall head first into a metal partition, which broke his neck. He was handcuffed and not secured with a seatbelt.
Lavandier was one of the officers who was seen on police bodycam footage helping move Cox from a police van to a jail cell after he was injured. He was never offered medical attention. Cox can be heard saying his neck was broken and said he could not move after officers were seen on the footage mocking his injury claims.
Cox is now permanently paralyzed from the chest down and is suing the officers and city of New Haven in federal court for $100 million.
Lavandier has worked at the police department for nine years. She is on administrative leave and is due in court in New Haven Monday for a remote hearing, where she will face two misdemeanor charges. Those charges include reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons. Lavandier is pleading not guilty.
