On patrol Police are busy keeping the town safe

by Mark Jahne

Editor

People might think that police work in a town the size of Cromwell is boring. That would be a faulty conclusion.

The men and women of the Cromwell Police Department keep busy every day and night answering emergency calls, patrolling the streets and otherwise doing everything they can to keep things safe and quiet.

Just ask Bill Kogut. The veteran patrol sergeant has spent more than 23 years with CPD and knows that anything can happen at any time. No two days are the same and they often include periods of calm punctuated by periods of significant activity.

Sgt. Bill Kogut investigates an incident that took place at the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. Photo by Mark Jahne

Sgt. Bill Kogut investigates an incident that took place at the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center.

Cromwell LIFE hopped a ride with Kogut for the second shift on March 5. That shift begins with staggered change of personnel from 3:30-4 p.m. so that all officers from the previous shift are not off the road at the same time.

He has seen a great amount of change during his career. Part of that is increased public attention to how law enforcement operates.

“Everything has changed. Everyone is watching us,” he said.

That’s OK with him because if officers follow their training and treat people in a professional manner they should have nothing to worry about. They all wear body cameras that record digital footage and this can be used to refute false claims of unprofessional behavior or prove that such behavior occurred.

If the latter, corrective action can be taken, up to and including dismissal from the job. Turning off the camera during difficult moments is not an option.

“Everyone here knows you’ve got to have your camera on,” Kogut said.

He added there are many misconceptions about police work and what the public can and cannot do legally. Much of this can be tracked to what he called misleading content online.

There is always at least one supervisor on the road. He employs his experience to help younger officers learn how to handle different situations.

“Every day is different. I love this job,” he said.

For example, some days the police respond to multiple motor vehicle crashes. Other days may pass without even a minor fender-bender.

The late afternoon/evening patrol officers are always on the lookout for impaired or distracted drivers. Like everything else, these incidents occur in streaks.

“The past six months it’s been way down,” he said of driving while under the influence arrests. “Prior to that there was a ton of them.”

The radio crackled to report that loss prevention staff at Lowe’s Home Improvement Center on Berlin Road had spotted a man wanted for stealing a saw from the Lowe’s in Newington. A description of the suspect’s vehicle was given and the sergeant headed to the store.

He quickly spotted the vehicle, a pickup truck, in the parking lot and watched from a distance while the driver got out and entered the store. Then he drove to the truck’s location and waited for the man to return.

He discovered that the man’s driver’s license was suspended. The truck also had mismatched license plates and that led to motor vehicle charges.

In the bed of the pickup was the saw that had been reported as stolen. When the man returned Kogut and Sgt. Michael Maslauskas spoke with the suspect, who wove a tale of woe, and placed him under arrest. The Newington Police Department was contacted and sent two officers to take him into custody and press criminal charges.

Further down the street, a Cromwell Fire Department ambulance had stopped at a gas station because the patient inside, who allegedly was high on drugs, refused to identify himself. They needed that information to access treatment at the hospital.

Kogut and other officers convinced the man to provide the information so that he could be treated and the ambulance resumed its journey.

While this was happening, another call came in to dispatch about a domestic disturbance at a local motel. Responding officers discovered drug paraphernalia in the room and that one of the people involved in the disturbance was wanted on four arrest warrants. They put her in handcuffs and took her to the police station to be arrested and processed.

He smiled when asked what it’s like to deal with three incidents at the same time.

“Welcome to the evening shift,” Kogut said. “This is an out-of-the-gate kind of night.”

When things quieted down a bit he drove to the Cromwell Crossings Shopping Center in search of a homeless man he knows by name. The man was there, curled up in front of a store with a blanket trying to get some sleep on a cold night.

Kogut checked on his welfare and offered to buy the man some food. He picked up a meal from McDonald’s, paying with his own money, and gave it to the man to help him through the night.

The break in the action provided him with the opportunity to do what police officers do more of than anything else – paperwork. Just another unpredictable night keeping the town of Cromwell safe. CL