Two of New Haven’s top cops are swapping jobs, as part of an effort to prepare them for possible futures as police chiefs.That’s the latest with Assistant Police Chiefs Bertram Ettienne and David Zannelli, who have each served in their current positions since July 2022. Ettienne has spent his term supervising detectives, while Zannelli has overseen patrol officers. Now, as of Monday, Ettienne will be donning his dress whites to run patrol, while Zannelli is shifting to the detective bureau. Police Chief Karl Jacobson explained the motive behind the move as broadening both men’s experience in the department.“We talked about it years ago when we started together about how change is good for different divisions, and that these guys want to be chief someday,” Jacobson said on Tuesday. ​“So we thought it was important to move them around and everybody get enough experience. I’m not going to be here forever, and it just seemed like the right time.”Before his promotion to assistant chief, Zannelli, a 16-year New Haven Police Department veteran, led the internal affairs division and formerly served as Fair Haven district manager. Ettienne, a 22-year NHPD veteran, oversaw the homicide and detective units during his career with the local police force. (Click here to read more about Jacobson’s original appointment of both assistant chiefs.)In an interview with the Independent on Tuesday, Ettienne said he is happy with the changes, and that both assistant chiefs are still ​“settling in” to their new roles.“We’re meeting our people, figuring out what we need to do, not trying to recreate anything, just improving,” he said.Zannelli said that part of the assistant-chief-assignment change was to balance out the promotion of two new captains, Michael Fumiatti and Brendan Borer. ​“We’ll all work together the same way we always have, as a team,” Zannelli added. Borer and Fumiatti, both 12-year NHPD veterans, were promoted from lieutenants to captains in December. Borer most recently served as the district manager for Downtown, Westville, Dixwell and Newhallville, while Fumiatti has served as the department’s first ever mental health and wellness coordinator since July, and before that spent five years as the top cop in Fair Haven.