New Police Chief: Reach Out To Us Any Way You Can

My name is Chris Ciuci. On April 3, 2023, I was sworn in as your chief.

I was overwhelmed by the warm welcome I received that day from the police department and town hall staff, our elected officials, colleagues, law enforcement partners and members of the community. I prefer the intimacy of a smaller agency and community and this reception immediately reinforced my decision to accept the position. I am grateful for the opportunity and your continued well wishes and outreach.

As the new police chief, I have been approached and asked about the department’s needs, top priori- ties, and challenges that we are facing. However, the most frequent one is I get is simply, “How is it going?” I will begin by answering that. It is going extremely well.

During remarks at my swearing in, I said we were going to work hard, support each other and continue to provide the highest level of service to this community. Our staff is doing that and much more. We are focusing on tactics to reduce crime and traffic crashes, increasing our community engagement efforts and working on initiatives to improve officer safety, health and wellness. We believe in a philosophy of continual improvement and are investing in and providing quality training opportunities for our officers, supervisors and support staff.

Our number one priority right now is to hire additional police officers and bring our staffing up to acceptable levels. We have three vacancies and anticipate more by the end of the year.

Nationwide there is a shortage of qualified applicants and interest in the profession, which is affecting our hiring efforts. We need to change the narrative and highlight the benefits of this challenging and rewarding profession. Please help us by steering potential candidates to our requirements and application webpage at www.policeapp.com/winchesterct. Questions about the hiring process can be sent to recruitme@townofwinchester.org.

Future challenges we face include addressing inadequacies with the facility and equipment at police headquarters and complying with accreditation requirements mandated by the police accountability bill.

We strive to live up to our motto of “excellence through community partnership.” Our success as an organization depends on your help and support.

If you can help us recruit police officers, we want to hear from you. If you can be our extra set of eyes and ears and provide information to help us combat crime and reduce traffic crashes, we want to hear from you. If you have creative ideas on how we can strengthen our community relationships, we want to hear from you. If you can assist and support us with keeping our officers healthy and safe, we want to hear from you.

Reach out to us any way you can. Visit with us at community events or stop by police headquarters. Contact us by email or tele- phone. Stay up to date by follow- ing us on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram or the town’s website.

The purpose of this article was to introduce myself to the community and answer a few of the questions I have been getting. I would like to thank Andy Thibault and the Winsted Citizen for giving me the opportunity to do that. I look forward to meeting and making new connections with many of you down the road. Be vigilant, report suspicious activity, and stay safe!