Wilton Police Chief John Lynch presented a staffing report to the Board of Selectmen at its meeting last week (Dec. 2), at which he told them his department is below the number of police officers needed to run the department efficiently and maintain public safety.

Lynch says the Wilton Police Department optimally should be staffed with 44 officers. Until just recently when a new officer was hired, the department was five people down from that ideal number.

Looking ahead to this spring when there will be some anticipated medical leave, the department will be short seven people.

Despite being understaffed, the department is still able to keep Wilton safe and fulfill its responsibilities, albeit with figuring out overtime, coverage and officers covering multiple duties, says Lynch.

“We manage a 27/7 department. It requires a certain number of personnel, and that’s just with basic coverage. There’s a lot of support staff needed, logistics–it’s almost like being your own CEO and making sure it’s covered.”

The question he gets asked most often by members of the public is why the department needs “so many” police officers, and that 44 officers “seems like a lot.” (First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice concurred, noting that it’s the second most common question she gets asked, just after, “‘When will my road get paved?’”)

Lynch acknowledges that while many people move to Wilton for the schools, he believes Wilton’s status as a safe community is a priority for prospective residents and a significant draw–and that Wilton is safe because of the Wilton Police.

“It’s usually in the top couple of reasons–Wilton is an incredibly safe town. I would say we are the best department in the area.”

What Wilton Officers Do

Lynch says that the Wilton public gets a lot of service for its money. He ran through an overview of all the types of services and responsibilities involved in running a police department. (see list of services, below)

Wilton’s population increases dramatically in the daytime, and has done so exponentially over the years.

“Your daytime population is more than what an extra 20,000-plus people driving through and then you have businesses and corporations–you’re adding to the population and we need officers to facilitate and handle that,” Lynch explains.

In addition to daily population increase, Wilton also sees a major daily impact on traffic.

Lynch compares what officers face to what the situation was in 1972. Then, with a town population of 13,572, the average daily traffic count on Rte. 7 added an additional 9,000 vehicles entering Wilton from Georgetown. Now, with town population of 18,397, traffic counts calculate an average daily increase of traffic to range between 22,800 cars at Wilton’s northern border, to 29,600 cars at the Norwalk border. Looking at the Georgetown side, that’s an increase of 153% over time.

At the minimum the department needs 30 officers to cover all shifts–25 officers and five sergeants to cover three shifts per day, 24 hours, seven days a week. He says that covers “…just patrol, responding to calls, responding to accidents.”

To cover Wilton, the department operates with five officers per shift–three patrol officers on the road, one sergeant and one desk officer. Lynch explains that the department cannot have fewer officers on shift.

“One domestic [call] will tie up two or three officers for a period of a couple of hours. One DUI will tie at least two officers up for a couple of hours. We have multiple calls, multiple cases where officers are required. That’s why you need that number of officers on the road,” Lynch says.

Compared to neighboring New Canaan and Ridgefield, Lynch says that Wilton is very low the number of supervisors. New Canaan has a larger police force without the activity of Rte. 7. Ridgefield and New Canaan also likely have additional civilian support.

Lynch counts off some of the positions that are currently unfilled.

“We are short one SRO, which we’re filling, but that won’t happen until April; we’re short a detective, and we’re short a dispatcher; our lieutenant is backed up on traffic studies, it’s kind of all hands. We had hoped to hire four [new officers],” he says, noting they are constantly looking for the right recruits, but added they won’t take just anyone. “We can’t lower standards, we have to have the right applicant.”

When vacation or illness impacts the basic number of patrol officers available to cover shifts, there is personnel to fill those gaps. On some occasions, the records, training or school resource officer would be called upon to assist. But, Lynch says, that pulls them away from their responsibilities that must get done. Rarer still are instances when even a captain or sergeant has stepped in, for example on a holiday like Labor Day.

“Our primary concern is covering the town,” he adds.

Selectwoman Deb McFadden points to the value of reviewing just how much the department handles and justifying the number of personnel, as the town prepares to examine how to renovate Police Headquarters.

“It’s important as we’re looking at the building, for the public to have an understanding of not only what the police officers are doing, but the needs of the building itself. This is a key component to understanding what the needs are for the building,” she says.

Vanderslice adds that when residents question the number of police employed by the town, she often hears people say there’s no crime.

“First of all we do. But it is safe and we need to have the staffing to make sure it stays safe. You have to keep saying it again and again.”

Lynch says the department is always analyzing how many officers are required at every function.

“We could use an extra officer on a shift, but there’s need and there’s want. When people says it’s safe, it’s a compliment, but yes, we do have crime, we have some serious crimes, just not a lot. We’re lucky to be in Wilton,” Lynch adds.

The gaps in personnel do impact budget, as Vanderslice pointed out, with the department able to realize “several hundred thousands of dollars” in savings.

“We have had savings every year in the police labor budget. Even though we have had to use overtime to fill the vacancy, the cost of the overtime does not exceed the labor and benefits we’d have paid for an employee. But at some point, hopefully we get to full staffing, and those big savings that we’ve been able to experience in the last seven years is not going to continue at some point.”

Long List of Services Police Provide:  “Bang for the Buck”

That minimum of 30 officers handle patrol responsibilities. He detailed what’s included in that, by listing the numbers of calls patrol handled in 2018:

  • traffic enforcement:  motor vehicle stops (4,308 )
  • Motor vehicle accident investigations (678)
  • Domestic disputes (82)
  • Critical Response Team (CIT) – mental health incidents (65)
  • EMS assists (1,149)
  • Larceny investigations (100)
  • Identity theft investigations
  • Burglary investigations (80)
  • Breach of peace & assaults (15)
  • Criminal mischief investigations (29)
  • Narcotic investigations (130)
  • Civil Investigations (9)
  • DUI investigations (43)
  • Assist Fire Department calls (301)
  • Alarms (1,650)
  • Road closures-tree down (519)
  • Designated location checks-problem areas (970)
  • Assist resident calls (365)
  • 15,639 CAD (dispatch) entries per year
  • 1,650 alarms

Lynch recalled a positive from his own time as a patrol officer. “One thing I always loved is assisting residents, you never knew what people would need, you’re a jack of all trades, trying to do what needs to be done.”

Beyond basic policing, there are several other functions the department serves through “Community Policing, Special Services and Proactive Services.” This encompasses safety training with various groups and members of the public (including active aggressor training); traffic safety enforcement; and administrative services, including:

  • Public and private school emergency planning
  • Financial institution training–response planning
  • Religious institution safety training
  • Organizational and business institution safety training
  • Traffic surveys–complaints
  • Targeted traffic enforcement
  • Records Management (full time officer)
  • Line painting
  • Road Sign Management
  • Citizen Police Academy
  • Senior Citizen Education and Programs
  • Crime Prevention
  • Prisoner Transfer
  • Speed trailer/sign
  • Radar and Laser Equipment maintenance
  • Car seat installation and public education
  • Fleet Management (day to day)

The next major function covered by the Wilton Police is school and juvenile work. There are two full-time School Resource Officers committed to Wilton’s school district. They handle:

  • Officer Friendly interaction
  • Health classes and law related curriculum
  • School safety task force–work hand in hand with school administration to facilitate emergency response and preventative planning
  • Fingerprinting school employees
  • Explorer Program
  • Investigating juvenile crimes
  • JV sex assault investigations
  • Domestic Violence classes
  • Bullying
  • Hate crime incidents

The department also has an active detective bureau, which handles investigative services such as:

  • Serious and significant investigations
  • Burglary Investigations
  • Larceny investigations
  • Pistol permits
  • Employee background investigations
  • Investigating juvenile crimes
  • Internet crimes
  • Computer crime investigations (local and regional)
  • Investigate crimes of significance
  • Identity theft
  • Assist with juvenile matters
  • Miscellaneous background checks

Lynch said the another “huge component” is training. “There’s a lot of liability in law enforcement. A [new] officer has to go through what equates to nine months of training…six months at the academy and three months at a field training program. And that’s just the basics. Each year officers are required to have certain credits, and then every three years each officer is rectified through the academy.”

One officer is a dedicated Training Officer, overseeing:

  • POSTC Officer mandated certification and record keeping
  • Mandated training for officers
  • Training record keeping
  • New recruit testing and hiring process
  • Legal updates and training
  • Accident investigation
  • DUI compliance and systems
  • Accreditation
  • Firearms and Taser training and record keeping
  • Training auditor
  • Emergency medical training and certification

Officers also participate in specialized teams and regional services. Lynch explained that while some officers are trained in these specialized areas, the efforts are coordinated regionally because of the expense to maintain these types of services at the level that would be necessary.

  • Joint dive team (with WFD)
  • SWRERT regionalized SWAT team and emergency services response
  • Regional DEA Opioid Task Force
  • Regional computer crimes task force and laboratory (child pornography, social media, internet crimes)
  • CTIC – FBI (criminal intelligence task force liaison)
  • DMV, NCIC computer liaison
  • Local and regional criminal and MVA investigative team

Police officers are also first responders, trained to be mercy medical responders.