Troop B head here to stay a while

NORTH CANAAN — The new Troop B commander, Lt. William R. Baldwin Jr., is a familiar face to many here in the Northwest Corner. He was a trooper here at the beginning of the nearly 30-year career with the Connecticut State Police (CSP).

Baldwin began his career in law enforcement at the age of 19 with the Torrington Police Department, before becoming a trooper. In April he was assigned to Troop B, where commanders tend to come and go quickly. Baldwin is hoping his tenure will be long and significant.

His experience and wisdom already appear to be coming to bear with a realistic view of issues and needs. He was at the July 9 meeting of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (COG) to give a brief overview and answer questions from the area’s first selectmen.

He said there are significant problems here that need to be addressed, and that programs are in the works to address public safety concerns.

“We get a lot of complaints about drivers speeding and driving recklessly,” he said. “I want to be accessible about any concerns you have. It’s important we work together. I represent you.”

He spoke briefly about the resident state trooper program, which a handful of towns in the Troop B coverage area utilize. 

Funding was a controversial issue in the recent legislative session, where representatives rallied against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s latest proposal to put all of the salary, benefits and vehicle costs for the program onto towns. The state had been paying 30 percent, with the understanding that a trooper may have to respond to emergencies beyond their assigned town.

During the special session that wrapped earlier this month, the amendment passed at an 80/20 percent split.

“The costs may be in the forefront, but it still has a significant benefit to offer all towns,” Baldwin said.

Bringing emergency dispatch back to each of the state’s 11 troops is another safety measure, he said. 

“The centralized system was really not working well. Regional dispatch is not always a bad concept. Torrington has been successful using LCD [Litchfield County Dispatch], but we need more local control over our dispatch.”

Baldwin said Commissioner Dora Schriro, who took over in February 2014, listened to concerns while investigating the then fairly new dispatch consolidation in the state’s more rural areas.

Further plans were halted and, this past May, she announced the consolidation would be reversed. 

When asked, Baldwin did not have a ready answer as to the costs for the consolidation and reversal.

He said both were expensive, and spoke of the changes seen in the CSP, and that last decision of the former administration.

“It was the way they went about it,” he said. “Some went about it their own way without listening to the good advice of others.”

While a budget for the consolidation was not made public at the time, the CSP Public Information Office responded to a request last week with numbers for both projects that add up to an expensive lesson learned.

The consolidation of Troops A and B with L in the northwest corner of the state, and of K and D with Troop C in the northeast corner cost just under $3 million.

That included the purchase of equipment that is being reused in re-establishing dispatch in each troop. 

Costs for 911 service total $54,500.  For Troop B, costs are $104,000; Troop A, $17,000; Troop D, $33,500; Troop E $28,303; Troop D and Troop K, $143,400, totaling $380,703.