Sgt Robinson Brings Cool Head to Sometimes Hot Situations

By Andrew Gorosko

In the sometimes intense and stressful world of policing, a cool head can be an asset.

That quality of mind as displayed by an even manner and an even temper should serve Richard Robinson well as the police department’s newest patrol sergeant, according to Police Chief Michael Kehoe.

Chief Kehoe said that Sergeant Robinson’s high competence and intelligence also will serve him well as he makes the transition from patrolman to patrol sergeant.

Sgt Robinson, 38, who joined the police department in October 1998, recently was promoted to the rank of patrol sergeant by the Police Commission. The sergeant was among three patrol officers who vied for the post.

The police department, which has a complement of 44 officers, includes six patrol sergeants and one detective sergeant.

Sgt Robinson demonstrated an aptitude for criminal investigatory work in 2005, when he received the highest test score among more than two dozen Fairfield County police officers who took the Fairfield County Detective Conference course on advanced police detective techniques. Course content included arson, explosives, juvenile law, crime scene investigation, computer crime, identity theft, arrest warrant application procedures, and revisions to criminal law, among others.

During the past several years, Sgt Robinson has helped guide the police department’s installation of a wireless data network, which links computer terminals in patrol cars to the police station computer system. He has also helped develop the police department’s website on the Internet.

Sgt Robinson said he hopes to help streamline the police department’s use of technology, with the goal of simplifying computer use and report writing. Reducing repetition is such areas would free up police officers’ time for more patrol work, he said.

Such patrol work is keyed to protecting the physical safety of people in town, safeguarding property, and encouraging safe traffic flow, he noted.

Sgt Robinson explained that a key priority for the members of a police patrol shift is to “Stay safe.” Using common sense and the lessons of law enforcement training leads to such safety, he said.

On his recent transition from patrolman to patrol sergeant, Sgt Robinson said, “The biggest change is being responsible for everything that’s going on” during a patrol shift.

In past, while he was a patrolman, Sgt Robinson was responsible for his own actions while on duty, but now, he will be responsible for the activities of up to a dozen people, he said.

Sgt Robinson filled the patrol sergeant’s vacancy that was created when the Police Commission named John Cole to the post of detective sergeant. Det Sgt Cole had served as a patrol sergeant since 1999.

Priorities

Considering that, at times, multiple emergencies may be occurring simultaneously, learning how to prioritize the police responses to those emergencies is a key skill, said Sgt Robinson.

Learning how to prioritize is a skill that stems from training and experience, he said.

After police recruits complete almost six months of training at the Connecticut Municipal Police Academy in Meriden, they spend about three months in a local field training program, learning the rudiments of law enforcement on the local level.

Similarly, when patrolmen become sergeants, they spend two weeks in a sergeants’ field training program, learning the basics of patrol supervisory work. Sgt Robinson spent those two weeks working with patrol sergeants Darlene Froehlich, Douglas Wisentaner, and Phil Hynes to get a sense of patrol shift supervision.

Generally, the police patrol unit’s day shift entails many public calls for police services, while the evening shift involves a large measure of law enforcement. The overnight shift generally is quiet, but when something big happens, it often happens on that work shift, Sgt Robinson said. Patrol sergeants work rotating shifts.

Of challenges police encounter in their work, Sgt Robinson said he most enjoys crime scene investigations, especially supervising such activity. “You don’t get bored as a police officer,” he said.

Before becoming a policeman, Sgt Robinson worked for security firms that provided coverage for Boehringer Ingelheim, a major pharmaceutical firm which has facilities at the Danbury-Ridgefield border.

Police work has much greater scope than private security work, he noted, explaining that a police agency is responsible for a municipality in general, rather than a specific private company.

Sgt Robinson said that he had a predisposition to enter law enforcement, noting that his father formerly worked as a Bethel police officer.

The sergeant holds a 1993 bachelor’s degree in justice and law administration from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. He graduated from Bethel High School in 1987.

Sgt Robinson said that he expects that one of the biggest challenges he will face as a sergeant will be one of the more mundane and tedious aspects of police work — voluminous paperwork.

A typical criminal case may involve police filling out six to ten arrest forms, including the filing of more than 30 sheets of information, he said. Processing drunken driving arrests is especially time-consuming, he said, based on the legal procedures involved in such cases.

When not policing, Sgt Robinson, who is married, enjoys snow skiing, furniture making, computing, and digital photography. A musician, he plays the brass instruments, with a specialty in the euphonium.