Second Captain Position To Be Reinstated At Enfield Police Department

ENFIELD, CT — The upper echelon of the Enfield Police Department's command staff will soon return to the model used for decades, as the town council Monday unanimously approved a resolution reinstating a second captain's position to the roster.

The primary responsibility of the new captain will be overseeing the armed school security officer program, which was inaugurated in 2013 following the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

That program was sunset two years later, and since then, the high school and middle school have been protected by school resource officers and unarmed security guards. In late February, a memorandum of understanding between the council and Board of Education led to revival of the armed guard program, to be implemented for the 2024-25 academic year.

Police Chief Alaric Fox said the previous armed guard program, which was in place and then shut down prior to his arrival in town in 2018, was supervised by then-captain Fred Hall. He said about 60 to 80 percent of Hall's time was spent working with the program, with other captain's duties being undertaken in remaining hours.

Following Hall's retirement as deputy chief in 2020, the department operated for nearly three years under a single chief, two captain structure. Following the 2023 promotion of Capt. Steve Kaselouskas to deputy chief, the retirement of Capt. Jeff Golden and promotion of Lt. Bryan Nolan to captain, the administration has worked nearly a year with three top-tier administrators.

"This will return us to what was previously the norm," Fox said.

The chief said the new captain's post will be filled by an internal promotion. It will carry a salary of $128,083 plus benefits, which is included in the town budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.