Change For City Police

Alter Command Structure

February 4, 2005
By TINA A. BROWN, Courant Staff Writer

The command structure of the community services bureau, better known as the patrol division in the Hartford Police Department, will take on a different look starting Sunday, police said.

After a shakeup of lieutenant commanders in almost every division, Police Chief Patrick J. Harnett is expected to announce today the names of the commanders who will be in charge of four neighborhood zones and headquarters.

In each case, the lieutenants were given the opportunity to select three top choices for assignments, but the ultimate decision, a police source said, was "up to the chief." The sergeants also expected to be shifted later this year into the district system have not been selected.

As of Sunday, the bureau will be headed by Assistant Chief Andrew Rosenzweig. Deputy Chief Daryl K. Roberts and Deputy Chief Michael Fallon will operate the north and south districts, respectively. Capt. Steven Heslin, who had been head of the north district, will be in charge of the headquarters division. Capt. Richard Kemmett will head the investigative services division.

In the four neighborhood zones headed by Roberts in the northern half of the city, Capts. Nancy McClure and Robert O'Connell are expected to take charge of Lts. Donald Chafin Jr., Marc Rubera, Brian Heavren and John Schmaltz. Heavren had been in charge of the police academy and Chafin had been in charge of special events divisions.

In the four zones assigned to Fallon in the southern half of the city, Capts. Jose Lopez Sr. and Joseph Buyak will lead a team of Lts. Daniel DePinto, Paul Hammick, Harold Even and Ronald Bair. Hammick had been in charge of major crimes and Even was commander of the vice and narcotics division.

The new head of the academy will be Lt. Andrew Nelson. Lt. Achilles Rethis will head major crimes and Lt. John Betz will head the city's vice and narcotics division.

The lieutenants charged with commanding various patrol shifts are Steven Hajdasz, Giselle Gamble and Patrick Jobes.

Harnett has said the transfers were necessary for the department to beef up its community policing plan. The new plan is intended to make commanders more accountable to the public.

Whether the changes will be acceptable to the public and the individual commanders was unclear on Thursday.

Richard Rodriguez, union president, said Thursday that he expects some officers to have concerns. But, he said, "We are not opposed to the changes if it means better policing."

Still, Rodriguez said, the changes will put "everybody out of their comfort zones because the concept [of the policing structure] is new. It could have a positive or negative effect depending on whether [they] like where they are going."