January 1, Republican Councilwoman EXPOSES What Democrat City Just Did With Police Force

Wyatt’s Take

• Danbury, Connecticut just voted 18-2 to let non-citizens become cops — lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients can now carry badges and guns
• Republican councilwoman calls it pure virtue signaling with zero public safety benefit — says the city has no shortage of officers and this was done for political theater
• Democrats claim it removes barriers, but one brave voice is asking the obvious question: shouldn’t American citizens enforce American laws?

A Connecticut city council just made a decision that has one Republican member sounding the alarm. Danbury voted 18-2 to open police force positions to lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients, and not everyone’s buying the justification.

“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.

“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.”

The Danbury City Council voted last week to change its police hiring rules, now allowing people who aren’t U.S. citizens to apply for positions as city police officers. The change aligns Danbury with Connecticut’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which extended eligibility to lawful permanent residents in 2020 and DACA recipients in 2025.

City records show Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour participated in an April committee discussion, saying police recruitment is a challenge. He spoke about wanting to attract the “best qualified candidates.” Neither the city council nor Ridenhour responded to requests for comment.

Democrat Mayor Roberto Alves defended the measure as removing barriers for qualified residents who want to serve the city.

“(This) vote was about removing an unnecessary barrier for qualified people who already call Danbury home and want to serve their community.”

City Council member Joe Britton, a Democrat, also backed the policy:

“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 isn’t backing down. She 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.”

“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 pushed back against accusations of racism over her opposition, saying her position was based solely on whether officers exercising police powers should be U.S. citizens. She’s asking a simple question: shouldn’t the people enforcing our laws be citizens of the country those laws belong to?

The 18-2 vote shows just how outnumbered commonsense voices are in blue cities. Democrat leaders are framing this as inclusion and opportunity. But for residents who believe citizenship should matter when it comes to wielding arrest powers and carrying a badge, this looks like another case of politics over principle.

Wyatt Matters

This isn’t about where someone was born or what language they speak at home. It’s about a simple standard: American laws should be enforced by American citizens. When you hand someone a badge, a gun, and the authority to arrest your neighbors, citizenship isn’t too much to ask. That used to be common sense. Now it gets you called names by people more interested in headlines than public safety.