Letter: Deputy Chief Rob Cipolla on the Legacy of Wilton’s Old Police HQ

To the Editor:

As I stood on the second-floor stairwell of our new headquarters, I overlooked our old home. The claw of an excavator ominously suspended over top of the building like King Kong, poised to strike as demolition began. As the building was methodically deconstructed, there was a certain heaviness in my chest, feeling a distinct end, a recognition that I will never be in the spaces of that building again. Yet as I watched, my thoughts shifted from the building itself to the people who had given it meaning.

The men and women of the Wilton Police Department are blessed to have inherited their new headquarters. Still, seeing our old home come down brings a certain nostalgia. A career contains countless moments: professional and personal, highs and lows, victories and setbacks. Hired in my early 20s, to some extent my maturation as an adult happened in that building. But it got me thinking. That’s only my story. While I have shared experiences with those I’ve been privileged to work alongside, many who guided me along the way, more than 30 years of service to Wilton, lived within those walls before I ever arrived.

For more than 50 years, there was not a second that the old headquarters was not occupied. I think about the shift changes, officers coming and going at all hours, even on holidays, weekends and overnight shifts. The long nights and missed family events.  The roll calls, three times a day, every day, for half a century. Ordinary moments in any workspace become so routine, but when you look back are the times when relationships with peers and mentors are formed. 

Then there were the calls for service. An unpredictable rhythm of dispatches sending officers and detectives into the community, often meeting people on their worst days. And at the end of each shift, those same officers would return to the building, change out and debrief the events of the day. On social media I saw some former members of the department post, “if only those walls could talk.” The building silently witnessed the story of the community itself. 

When I reflect on my 20-plus years, I recognize that it isn’t the loss of the building that weighs on me. Rather, the men and women who filled the hallways of that building is where I draw the attachment. Fortunate enough to be a part of the moving process, I enjoyed sifting through what was dug up from old filing cabinets. Newspaper clippings, reports, memos that breathe life back into an era of the Wilton Police Department that existed before I did. The names of former officers you’ve heard of but never met, the stories that were told and survived over the years. It is representative of generations of service to the Wilton community. Officers who served decades apart but shared the same mission. The mentorship and traditions passed from one generation to the next. I recognize that when I began my career, I inherited something built by those who came before me.

Throughout my time here, I’ve witnessed many retirements. Whenever someone leaves it feels like the end of an era — especially when that person was considered a mentor and integral to the development of your own career. Heading into retirement is like a flip of a switch. One day you’re gearing up in the locker room, the next day you’re gone, and the mission continues without you. Looking back, it’s hard not to wonder whether your work had meaning. For those who shared that building with me, whether I knew them well or never met them at all, what you did mattered. The department had already turned over multiple times before my career even began. Some who served are no longer with us, yet their fingerprints are everywhere. They shaped our department, protected our town and mentored those who followed. What they have all done matters and is forever engrained in the history of the Wilton Police Department.

As we settle into our new home, those of us still wearing the uniform recognize that we are the stewards of the new Wilton Police headquarters. Policing has evolved over the past 50 years and will continue to do so. The expanded space and advanced technology of the new building are necessary to meet the demands of 21st-century policing. 

Yet it is a poignant time to recognize that it is not the building that makes the Wilton Police Department; it is the generations of officers who filled it — men and women who served the community with integrity and compassion for more than half a century. It is often said that policing is a thankless job, there is no fanfare. While their names may not be widely known, their steady commitment to helping those in need shaped the community every single day whether they knew it or not. Our gratitude for their service will guide how we honor and carry forward the department’s legacy. 

And sometimes, that reminder comes from the most unexpected places.

Recently, I had my daughter with me at work for the day. She took it upon herself to create a few inspirational messages and pin them to our freshly minted bulletin boards. Her notes read, “You make every day a good one,” “You make every day shine,” and “Make every day count.” From the mouth of babes, wise beyond her years, her words are a simple but powerful reminder that what the men and women of the Wilton Police Department do each day truly matters.

The legacy of the old headquarters was never about brick and mortar. It lives on in the men and women who served there, in the lives they touched, and in the community they protected. The old headquarters may be gone, but its story endures every time an officer answers a call for help or mentors the next generation.

Deputy Chief Robert Cipolla
Wilton Police Department