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Ronnell Higgins to lead DESPP as commissioner. Colonel Mellekas out too.

by Kevin Rennie

Governor Ned Lamont will appoint Ronnell Higgins, former Chief of Police at Yale University as the state’s new Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). Higgins became associate vice president of public safety and community engagement at Yale last year.

The announcement Wednesday that Higgins will replace Commissioner James Rovella has been carefully timed to draw a line under more revelations about conduct in the ranks of the State Police.

Colonel Stavros Mellekas is also expected to be replaced.

The State Police has been a nettlesome problem for Lamont. Republican Bob Stefanowski had only one line in his 2018 rematch with Lamont that irked the Greenwich Democrat. It was troopers’ vote of no-confidence in Lamont. That sealed Rovella’s fate. An ongoing scandal over motor vehicle tickets continues to cause dismay within the administration. More unhappy surprises are expected to follow–and you won’t need your GPS to track them.

Published October 4, 2023.

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