Brookfield Captain—

Local Woman Retires

After 30-Year Police Career

By Andrew Gorosko

Recalling the many years that she spent as a Brookfield police officer, a smile comes to the face of Maureen Will of Sandy Hook.

The varied work of a police officer made for many interesting experiences, explained Ms Will, who recently retired from the Brookfield Police Department after 30 years of service.

Ms Will retired from the organization with the rank of captain, serving as the third-in-command in the 33-member department.

Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe was among the many speakers at a January 17 retirement dinner held at The Fox Hill Inn in Brookfield in honor of Ms Will’s accomplishments during her long career in law enforcement.

While a teenager, Ms Will was a member of Police Explorer Post 559 in Newtown, which focused on the workings of local law enforcement. She later attended Mattatuck Community College in Waterbury.

Ms Will initially worked as a police constable in Woodbury, later becoming a police dispatcher in Brookfield. In 1978, Ms Will started work as a Brookfield police officer, serving as its first female officer.

The Brookfield Police Department was organized in 1977, after that town’s use of the resident state trooper law enforcement system.

Ms Will advanced to the post of youth officer in 1987, specializing in youth-related law enforcement, as well as serving as a role model for the youths whom she counseled.

Brookfield police promoted Ms Will to the rank of corporal in 1995, and in 1999 she became the police department’s captain.

Of her years in law enforcement, Ms Will said, “I liked most, the people that I met.”

She fondly recalled the times that former Brookfield police chief John Anderson aided her with the various law enforcement projects which she had organized.

Of the various positions she held while a Brookfield police officer, Ms Will said she enjoyed most being the youth officer. During that period, she conducted the police department’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program for schoolchildren. That program trains schoolchildren to build self-esteem to resist peer group pressure to use illicit drugs.

In her role as police captain, Ms Will handled both operational and administrative duties.

During the past five years in that position, she provided much police training, as well as oversaw the police department’s emergency communications system.

Since 2000, she was president of the Fairfield County Training Officers Association, a position which she left on her retirement. In 2006, she became a member of the faculty committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

“Law enforcement is definitely challenging…But it was fun,” Ms Will said of her long career. “I got paid to do something that I really liked to do…I really liked it,” she said.

Ms Will thumbed through the leaves of a scrapbook that was presented to her on her retirement. While doing so, she recounted some of the of the events that occurred during her three-decade career.

They included training in the use of shotguns, a hazardous materials spill, a drug arrest, the operation of Block Watch program, police training on domestic violence and sexual assault, working as the police department’s youth officer, and conducting the DARE training program for youths.

In the coming years, Ms Will foresees the Brookfield Police Department increasing its traffic enforcement duties and expanding its narcotics investigations. Also, she expects that the regionalization of some types of police work will occur.

Ms Will said she hopes that the state government establishes an academy, where emergency telecommunications would be a formal subject of study.

“Dispatchers are the heartbeat of any telecommunications center,” she said. “Dispatchers are the ‘first responders,’” she added.

“The dispatchers are special people, and sometimes people forget about them,” she said.

Emergency dispatchers are finally being publicly recognized for the valuable service which they provide, she said.

Ms Will plans to use her expertise in emergency telecommunications in a consulting business that she is starting. She will be troubleshooting telecommunications problems for emergency response agencies. That work will involve analyzing problems and making recommendations for improvements, she said.

Ms Will lives in Sandy Hook with her husband, John, and their daughter, Katherine.