Trumbull’s town council has made history in that community by appointing the first person of color to the Police Commission, according to commission chair Raymond Baldwin. Andrea Fonseca was appointed to the commission on March 6.
Fonseca focused on taking it all in after her first commission meeting as a police commissioner on Tuesday.
“This is my first meeting, so this is something new … for me,” Fonseca said.
Her appointment comes as the town’s government has grown more diverse over the years. Trumbull elected its first Black town council member in 2020, as first reported by the Trumbull Times, and the town’s share of non-white residents has grown over the last decade.
Fonseca is the current chair of the town’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Task Force (EDIT), an advisory body that can only make suggestions to the town government. Now, she will serve on a town commission, which oversees the police department and has decision-making authority.
First Selectman Vicki Tesoro, who appointed Fonseca to the position, said she chose her due to Fonseca’s education experience. She is currently the principal at Wooster Middle School in Stratford, and as the chair of EDIT.
“She is abundantly qualified to serve in this role and I am thrilled that she was approved by the town council,” Tesoro said.
Fonseca is planning on resigning from her position as the chair of EDIT. According to its mission statement, EDIT works to ensure all residents in town are heard and respected regardless of racial, ethnic, gender, orientation, religious, socio-economic and disability differences.
The town charter stipulates the police commission has management and control over police property, and it has the power to hire police officers and set staffing levels. Fonseca presided over an interview with a job applicant to the department on Tuesday.
According to Baldwin, Fonseca is the right choice for the role, citing her family ties to law enforcement. Her brother, he said, is a police officer.
“She’s been around police officers … and she seems bright, she’s level headed, I don’t think there’s going to be an issue with her serving on the police commission with us,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin confirmed Fonseca is the first Black woman and person of color to serve on the commission. Non-white representation within the town’s government has grown over the years keeping in line with the growing non-white population within town. Whites made up 90% of the town’s population in 2010. Now it’s at 79% according to the 2020 Census. African Americans were at 3.1% in 2010. The population has since grown to 3.6%.
But Fonseca herself wasn’t aware she was a trailblazer until it was brought to her attention during her first appearance as a member at a commission meeting.
“I’m just learning that, so that’s awesome,” Fonseca said.
