Public safety concerns in a portion of New Haven have led to a duck hunting ban. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced that they’ve closed the area along the Quinnipiac River in New Haven to hunting for one year. During that time, DEEP will conduct a study and make a recommendation.
The moratorium was prompted in part by a letter to DEEP from the city’s police chief, Anthony Campbell. Joined by state and city officials, Campbell told reporters the sound of gunshots is a quality of life issue as well as a public safety concern.
“When someone says to me, ‘I stopped calling in the gunshots because I just figured that it was hunters out there and I didn’t want to bother the police department,’ that’s of concern for me,” Campbell said. “Because that means that someone may get shot in our city and the person who heard the shot wouldn’t call in because they assumed that it’s duck hunters. We can’t have that.”
Campbell said they plan to speak with residents in the area about shots being fired in their neighborhoods and what the proper response protocols should be.
