An investigation into New Haven’s former police chief Karl Jacobson will be led by the state's attorney. The investigation follows reports of theft and the misuse of funds.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the investigation into Jacobson is ongoing. Elicker said Jacobson admitted to stealing money from a confidential informant program. The fund is used to pay people who provide confidential information to assist criminal investigations. Jacobson managed the program assistant chief of investigations, and in 2022, when he became police chief, he continued to manage it.
“Chief Jacobson has been removed as a signatory on that account. We’ve paused the confidential informant program temporarily while we review the program. We’re reviewing if there were any other city accounts that were impacted,” Elicker said.
Assistant Chief David Zannelli has been appointed acting chief. Zannelli said he, along with two other assistant chiefs, confronted Jacobson about the alleged fraud on Monday morning. Elicker said Jacobson admitted to taking $10,000, but said it is still unclear how much of the funds were actually taken. The two were supposed to meet later that day, where Elicker said Jacobson would have been put on administrative leave. But Jacobson filed the paperwork to retire, effective immediately, shortly after being confronted.
"I think we're all shocked and numb. This is an individual who never exhibited any kind of conduct while on duty that would cause us to question his integrity at this level,” Zannelli said. “I am very proud of the men and women here. Again, this was brought forth by members of this police department.”
Elicker said the fund receives around $75,000 a year, and the past two years, that money came from the city’s general fund. Smaller increments of that fund are then distributed to the department, where detectives manage payments to confidential informants.
Elicker said the department has sealed Jacobson's office pending the outside investigation. He said the department no longer has access to financial records, but has frozen the program funds. The documents were requested by the state's attorney as evidence in the case. Elicker said the department will revisit the policy for managing funds.
“We’re going to get an outside party to review the policies and procedures to make sure that we improve them in a way that ensures that this never happens again,” Elicker said.
Records indicated that in 2025, Chief Jacobson regularly withdrew $5,000 increments from the account each month, according to Elicker. The only exceptions were in November and December of that year, when instead of one $5,000 withdrawal, there were two $5,000 withdrawals. At the time the account was frozen, Elicker said there was just over $50,000 left in the account.
“While we have a better understanding of the amount of funds deposited into and withdrawn from the confidential informant bank account, which is called the Narcotics Enforcement Program Fund, we do not yet have a full accounting of what was done with those funds,” Elicker said.
