City kids urged to set goals high

08/05/2006

William Kaempffer , Register Staff

-NEW HAVEN — Assistant Fire Chief Ronald Dumas clutched his back in feigned agony at the question. "Do you have to become assistant chief before you become a ‘real’ chief," asked 10-year-old Ismail Abdussabur.

The grimace was his only answer.

Ismail and about 10 youngsters visited Fire Headquarters and toured the firehouse on Lombard Street Friday as part of a summer youth development program run by a city police officer for inner-city kids. In recent weeks, they also have met with New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz and Yale Police Chief James Perrotti in an effort to show the youths that there are well-paying careers open to them if they set goals and steer clear of trouble on the street.

Dumas was 34 years old in 2000 when he became assistant chief of the fire department, which has about 400 sworn and civilian employees. It’s the second highest rank.

But to get there, Dumas said, you have to finish high school because that’s a minimum requirement to get on the job. A felony conviction also would disqualify a candidate.

"A lot of times there’s negativity in our community. There’s shootings. There’s drugs. But you guys are staying away from that, right?" asked Dumas.

Dumas and Shafiq Abdussabur, the city police officer who organized the summer program, have known each other since grade school. Both attended St. Aedan’s elementary school and graduated from Notre Dame in West Haven. At separate colleges, they both became members of Phi Beta Sigma, a historically black fraternity.

Dumas joined the fire department in 1987. Abdussabur, who is Ismail’s father, joined the police department in 1996. Abdussabur said youths too often are bombarded with anti-violence messages that it becomes so much noise to the kids.

It’s not that they don’t have value, he said. The youths in his program sat through plain-talking sessions about gun violence, drugs abuse and gangs and a visit to the Whalley Avenue jail.

Sometimes, though, people spend so much times telling youths what they shouldn’t do but "never tell them what they’re supposed to be doing."

Abdussabur said between 50 and 60 youths from the Dixwell neighborhood are involved in the summer program. His organization, CTRIBAT, operates on donations.