Danbury opens police hiring to DACA and lawful permanent residents

A Connecticut city opened its police force to lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients following an 18-2 city council vote, drawing pushback from one member who opposed the change.

“I don’t think it is in any way intended to make our city feel safer,” Danbury City Council member Candace Fay, a Republican, told “Fox & Friends First” co-host Todd Piro.

“There’s no public policy reason behind what the council did. There’s no overarching need for police officers in our city. There’s no demand that this will meet. It was done simply as a political narrative, overwhelmingly done by virtue signaling, and it’s further dividing our city,” she added.

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Fay’s remarks come after the Danbury City Council voted last week to amend its police hiring ordinance, allowing lawful permanent residents and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to apply to become city police officers.

The change brings Danbury’s rules in line with those adopted by Connecticut’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which extended eligibility to lawful permanent residents in 2020 and DACA recipients in 2025.

Though neither the city council nor Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour responded to Fox News’ requests for comment before Tuesday morning’s segment, city records show Ridenhour participated in an April committee discussion on the matter, during which he said police recruitment is a challenge and spoke about wanting to attract the “best qualified candidates.”

Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, a Democrat, said the measure removes barriers for qualified residents who want to serve the city.

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“(This) vote was about removing an unnecessary barrier for qualified people who already call Danbury home and want to serve their community,” he said, per The Danbury News-Times.

City Council member Joe Britton, a Democrat, also defended the policy in the following statement:

“Danbury is an immigrant city and I believe someone who is lawfully here, committed to our community and willing to raise their hand and take an oath to protect and serve should have the opportunity to do so.”

Fay, however, argued that U.S. citizenship should remain a requirement for officers entrusted with powers including making arrests and using force.

“I’m asking for an objective standard. I’m asking that someone be a citizen. That’s it,” Fay said. “That’s not overly egregious. It’s not considering where they were born. It’s not considering their ethnicity or even whether they’re a good person,” she continued.

“It is a reasonably objective standard whether they should be a citizen in order to be a police officer and enforce the state of Connecticut laws over citizens.”

Fay also defended herself against accusations of racism over her opposition to the measure, saying her position was based solely on whether officers exercising police powers should be U.S. citizens.