Kent mulls return of a state trooper

As a retired resident trooper for the town of Kent, Andy Ocif knows well the value of the program.

The state trooper position was cut from this year's town budget. Since July 1, troopers from Troop L at the Litchfield barracks have been conducting patrols in the town in place of the program.

Yet Mr. Ocif believes having the resident trooper back in the town would provide a continuity to police coverage that is now lacking.

Residents who have an opinion on bringing the state resident trooper program back to town will have a chance Wednesday to voice that opinion.

A town meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. with a discussion period on the state police matter after the meeting.

"Litchfield's Troop L does a good job," Mr. Ocif said. "But there's no continuity: one trooper goes through one day and another trooper covers another day."

Recently, there was a "scam" occurring in Kent targeting senior citizens, Mr. Ocif said. Someone was calling residents offering chimney cleaning. When the chimney cleaner arrived at the home, he would not, in fact, do any work but would collect payment.

"If there had been one trooper in the town who was responding to each resident complaint or regularly talking to residents, there would have been a continuity that could have led to an arrest and an end to the scam," Mr. Ocif said.

Wednesday's discussion is in response to a petition Mr. Ocif circulated in town in February, signed by 184 residents and presented it to the selectmen.

"The petition had no legal binding but it did indicate interest,' said First Selectman Bruce Adams. "The discussion will be strictly informational. I will present some information I have gathered, including the cost to the town of putting the resident trooper program back in place. However, no vote will be taken."

Mr. Adams said, if the selectmen were convinced of an overwhelming support to have the program put in the budget, they could add it before the budget goes March 16 to the Board of Finance.

However, the time for residents to request the program be included in the budget would be when the Board of Finance holds the public hearing on the budget in April, Mr. Adams said.

"The last resident trooper had gotten complacent," Mr. Ocif said. "Some business owners in town became dissatisfied with his performance. A fresh trooper in the position would bring coverage needed back to the town."

When the resident trooper was cut from the budget in 2009, the cost to Kent had been $100,000 annually.

Mr. Adams said now the cost would be "slightly higher."

"There's no continuity; one trooper goes through one day and another trooper covers another day."

Andy Ocif

Former Kent resident state troooper