Emotional debate over reinstating the resident trooper program this year

KENT — The debate often turned emotional at a hearing at Town Hall on March 11 as residents discussed whether to reinstate the resident trooper program.

Last year, the town eliminated the program, saving $100,260 from the fiscal 2009-10 budget.

However, some members of the audience felt that while money was saved in the town’s budget, the safety and security of residents have been compromised because of the cutback.

The meeting started with First Selectman Bruce Adams, who explained that, while he did not feel it was the right time to reinstate the program, he would still be willing to listen to residents who felt otherwise.

“My mind is wide open on this,� Adams told the audience. “However, I do not feel that we need a resident trooper at this point, but I am only one person. It is possible [the Board of Selectmen] can insert funds for the program. If we don’t do that, then residents can come to the budget hearing in April and ask it be put into the budget. Then we can go to a townwide vote two weeks later.�

Crunching the numbers

Adams said he spoke to representatives from Troop L in Litchfield who gave him numbers for how much the program would cost the town for fiscal 2010-11.

If the town wanted to employ a senior trooper with more than 11 years’ experience, it would cost a total of $144,898, with the town paying 70 percent of the program, approximately $101,429. The other 30 percent would be paid by the state.  

Another option for the town would be to hire a trooper with six years’ experience, which would cost a total of $107,296, with the town paying 70 percent of the program, approximately $75,107. Again, the state would pay the other 30 percent.

In presenting the numbers, Adams noted that Gov. M. Jodi Rell has made a push during the past year for towns to pay the full amount of the program.

However, he added that nothing has been decided by the state and it should not have any bearing on the debate over the program.

“I voted last year as a selectman to cut this program partially due to financial reasons,� Adams said. “We were told by the Board of Finance to cut $100,000 from the budget. It was certainly a quick way to make that cut and at the time it was a fairly popular way to make the cut. People were generally not happy with the program. I still stand behind my vote because I feel I made the right decision.�

Adams then read an e-mail co-written by residents Jim Perkins and Ken Cooper, who suggested that the town hire a town constable.

Adams said he is researching the idea and did not have a definitive answer on whether the town could pursue that route.

Concern over scam

During the discussion, a good majority of residents spoke about a chimney sweep scam that has hit town throughout recent months.

According to residents who discussed this, they received unsolicited phone calls from a company claiming that they previously cleaned their chimney and that it was due for another cleaning.

Some residents in the audience reported receiving “very threatening� phone calls from the perpetrators.

“I got four calls from them,� resident Stanley Jennings said. “One call said that I haven’t cleaned my chimney in four years, another one said that ‘your wife made an appointment to have your chimney cleaned.’�

Jennings said he told former Resident Trooper Andy Ocif about the company, who then contacted the state police to set up a “sting� operation.

“Five [officers] spent a day there ahead of when they were supposed to come,� Jennings said. “The chimney sweeps were supposed to come around 2 p.m. But they didn’t and it got around to 3 p.m., which was quitting time for the [officers], so they left. Around 3:30 p.m. after the [officers] left, the sweeps showed up.�

Jennings said the scammers are targeting Kent because of its population of senior citizens and because the town does not have a resident trooper.

“I think the situation could get worse, possibly very quickly,� Jennings said.

Adams then asked the audience to raise their hand if they received a phone call from the chimney sweeps. In response, almost everyone in the room, including Adams and Selectman Karren Garrity, raised their hand.

Adams told the audience that an elderly couple was scammed out of $3,300 by the chimney sweeps, who in turn did a very minimal amount of work.

“I don’t think a resident trooper would be able to prevent any of the phone calls,� Adams said. “These are illegal vendors carrying out their business without a license.�

Ocif, resident and former resident trooper who is behind a petition campaign to reinstate the program, said if the town had an ordinance against unlicensed solicitation for services, a resident trooper could enforce it.

Both Adams and Garrity told Ocif that the town had an ordinance on the books.

“That ordinance isn’t even worth the paper it’s written on,� Ocif said. “[The current ordinance] has no penalty, there’s nothing. If somebody was soliciting services and they came by my house, I would have had them arrested by the resident trooper if there was an ordinance.�

Adams said he was investigated the town ordinances.

Life without a trooper

Bud Brady said that state police coverage of the town has actually improved since the town did not renew the resident trooper program.

“When we had a resident trooper here, we had very little protection,� Brady said. Brady said when he called the state police with a complaint, they responded within 15 minutes, which he claimed was a faster response time than he got from a resident trooper.

Kim Slater defended the resident trooper program and pushed for its reinstatement because the trooper was in charge of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and would visit Kent Center School regularly as part of the program.

“I don’t want to bury my head in the sand — [the issue] has touched my household,� Slater said. “I hate to see the DARE program not be in the school. We have not had a DARE program in school since late last year because we lost our resident trooper. The resident trooper built a rapport with the children in our schools. It gave children someone to go to if they were frightened or scared. There are kids in the town who can’t even go to their parents.�

Garrity, who served as chairman of the Board of Education prior to being elected selectman, told Slater that the school has been implementing other programs to take the place of the DARE program.

“There is a lot of literature out there saying that DARE is not the best vehicle [for helping children make choices],� Garrity said. “Even national police entities are rethinking the program. However, there really is an effort from the school to make sure there are programs in place, whether they are from a trooper or not.�

Next to speak was Nina Blue, the daughter of Dennis Cavalleiro, who was killed on Christmas Eve in a car accident on Route 341.

Blue said a resident trooper would have responded much faster to the accident when it occurred.

“We had three state troopers who responded to the accident who, in our opinion, did not know what the hell they were doing,� Blue said. “We did not even know my father died until we got to the hospital. If we had a friendly face like [a resident trooper] he would’ve told us because he knows us. Things would have gone a lot smoother.�

Cavalleiro’s widow, Maria, criticized the response time of the state police to the accident.

“It took the troopers almost half an hour to a respond,� Maria Cavalleiro said. “A resident trooper would have taken only five minutes to respond.�

As the meeting ended, Adams said he would take all statements made by residents into consideration.