Exhibit Celebrates 30 Years Of Police Work In Newtown

By Andrew Gorosko

The Newtown Police Department organized 30 years ago in September 1971, with 17 officers taking their oaths of office on the front steps of Edmond Town Hall. New Police Chief Lou Marchese looked on as First Selectman Timothy Treadwell administered the oath to the four sergeants and 13 officers.

Retiring from the state police as a captain, Mr Marchese had taken charge of the town law enforcement unit, which had functioned as a constabulary under the supervision of Resident State Trooper Sergeant James Costello for the previous 14 years.

In January 1988, Michael DeJoseph became Newtown’s second police chief. James E. Lysaght, Jr, was sworn in as the third police chief in July 1996. The Police Commission named Michael Kehoe the fourth police chief last May.

But there is a much broader story to tell about the police department than the succession of chiefs. 

A wide-ranging photo and text exhibit on the 30-year history of the town police department will be on display in the meeting room of Booth Library from August 13 to 23. Patrol Officer Maryhelen McCarthy organized the exhibit, called “A Proud Tradition.”  The photos and text chronicle aspects of police department operations since 1971.

The symbolic centerpiece of the show is a multicolored stained glass piece fashioned by Ms McCarthy. The panel contains 30 glass squares representing the 30 years of the department. A black square and a white square represent the letter of the law. A clear square symbolizes a window through which the past can be viewed. A mirrored panel reflects hope for the future. The many colored panes in the piece represent diversity.

Patrol Officer Robert Haas designed a logo for the department’s 30th anniversary. The logo, which is included in the stained glass piece, contains a map of Connecticut with Newtown’s outline positioned within the map. A large flag arises out of Newtown. The logo bears the legend: “Newtown Police / 30 Years / 1971-2001 / Committed To Excellence.” The stained glass piece also depicts the various implements police use in their work.

The 30th anniversary exhibit contains about 20 framed pieces including photos and text, newspaper articles and statistics detailing local law enforcement.

A framed piece with a tree motif lists all those who have served at the police department during the past 30 years.

Two of the men who were sworn in on the Town Hall steps in 1971 still are with the department:  Lieutenant David Lydem and Patrol Officer Raymond Thompson. Other current officers who have long service with the department are Jeff Kovic, Mike Brokaw, Mike Kehoe, and Bob Tvardzik. The six men are featured in the photo exhibit.

Highlights of the show include framed pieces on cops and children, the police pistol range, the animal control officer, a March 2000 bank robbery, and murders in Sandy Hook in 1975 involving Hell’s Angels, among others.

Ms McCarthy also has created photo albums of current police officers at work.

As she surveyed her work on the project to research, organize, and display 30 years of police department history, Ms McCarthy said, “It’s taken a lot of time, but it’s fun.”

Police Chief Michael Kehoe praised Ms McCarthy for her work in organizing the exhibit.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary, police will receive special shirt pins for their uniforms.

After the ongoing renovation project inside the police station is complete, police plan to conduct an open house event there for the public to both commemorate the department’s 30th anniversary and to display the building’s new facilities, Chief Kehoe said. Workmen have yet to complete a combined dispatch center for police, fire, and ambulance dispatching in the space formerly occupied by the police records unit. The police station open house will be this fall.

The 30th anniversary photo exhibit at Booth Library runs from Monday, August 13, through Thursday, August 23. Library hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm; Friday, noon to 5 pm; and Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm.