By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
July 6, 2006
On Friday, police Lt. Richard Cochran hoisted an unplugged
computer printer in his nearly barren office inside the Police
Administration Building and moved across the street to a
converted jail cell that will be his new base.
Outside, a detective pushed a shopping cart through the hallway
past cardboard boxes filled with old records, blank forms, and
other odds and ends.
Near the entrance of the building, numerous award plaques and
photos still hang.
"I was sworn in here by Chief (Raymond) Grant in 1981,"
Cochran said while standing in the empty chief's office.
"There are a lot of memories here, just because this
building has been here our entire career."
Cochran, 49, was the last officer sent packing from the
much-maligned building, which will be demolished in three weeks
to make way for a new public safety complex serving as police,
fire, and emergency medical headquarters.
"I feel a little sadness, because I spent a lot of time in
that building," said former Police Chief Peter Robbins, no
fan of the Administration Building. "But you always have to
look ahead, and the new station will be a welcome addition which
will improve the morale and operation of the department."
Until the new police station is operational in 2007, the entire
force will be packed in at the Police/Fire Building, scheduled
for its own overhaul in 2008.
The Administration Building was purchased by the town in the
mid-1950s to accommodate the growing department, but officers
have complained for decades that it was not adequate for use as a
police station.
"The Police/Fire Building was just too small, so the
Administration Building was purchased because it was close,"
Robbins said. "They bought it and renovated it, but it was
never a great acquisition in that it should have been torn down
at that time."
Police Chief James Walters said longtime officers remember escape
attempts by prisoners that highlighted the inadequacy of the
building for police work.
During the early 1980s, a suspect removed ceiling tile and
hoisted himself into the crawl space of the building. Another
time a prisoner broke free of officers and smashed through a side
door.
"I don't think that will happen in the new building,"
Walters said.
Robbins said that the heating and ventilation systems and a
sieve-like roof were recurring problems in the Administration
Building.
The building housed the chief's office and other command staff,
as well as detective and record divisions, which created a
distance between those sections and uniformed officers.
"It was tough living in that building," Robbins said.
"You were separated from the uniformed division of the
police department, and every chief had to work through
that."
Other officers were not nostalgic for the building despite its
long history.
Sgt. Jeffrey Moran said that while conditions will be crowded in
the Police/Fire Building, the hampered communication between
uniformed officers, detectives, and administrators should
improve.
"We will see them more often and be able to exchange
information more easily," Moran said.
Capt. Michael DeAngelo, head of the department's Criminal
Investigations Div-ision, said detectives have been afforded more
room in the Police/Fire Building than they had across the street.
"I don't think you'll find any love lost for that building
coming down," DeAngelo said. "It's never really been a
comfortable building to work in. While there is a lot of history
there, it was never a good fit."
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.