Stratford Star

New chief gets chance to oversee changes

Written by John Kovach
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 16:36

Changes have been obvious at the Stratford Police Department, and Patrick Ridenhour has been given a chance to continue to lead them.

Mayor John A. Harkins removed the term “acting” from his title last week, giving him the helm of a department in transition.

“Chief Ridenhour has done a fine job leading the department during his time as the acting police chief,” Harkins said. “I have every expectation that he will continue to work with community leaders, his command staff, and officers to serve the residents of Stratford well.”

“The guys are starting to see progress,” Ridenhour said amid empty, half-finished rooms.

He said shortly after he was named acting chief he started to think about permanently taking the job.

“I thought I could help move the place forward,” Ridenhour said.

Ridenhour was hired as deputy chief in June 2009 by former Mayor James R. Miron, replacing retired Deputy Chief Joseph LoSchiavo.

At the time of his being named deputy chief, Ridenhour became the highest ranking black official in Stratford’s history.

When Chief John Buturla left for a job in Richmond, Va., in April 2011, Ridenhour was appointed acting chief.

Ridenhour retired as assistant deputy chief of police in Waterbury in May 2008 after more than 20 years with the force there. He started as a patrol officer in 1988 before rising to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, then assistant deputy chief in February 2005. Ridenhour commanded Waterbury’s patrol, communications, community policing, and animal control divisions.

Some of the changes in Stratford may not be so visible to the general public.

“We have policies and procedures that haven’t been updated since the 90s,” Ridenhour said. “Some say they were updated in 2005, but there were no substantive changes.”

Officers will be given a chance to work different assignments within the department, gaining experience and building résumés for future openings.

Keeping with the community policing for which he was known in Waterbury, Ridenhour said youth outreach will increase, including an increase in the activity of the Police Athletic League.

Ridenhour said the department will also work with community groups such as Citizens Addressing Racial Equality.

Morale, and the work environment, are improving with the renovations to the station and new cars, Ridenhour said. Cars are now outfitted with patrol rifles.

Another looming change will be readily visible to the public. New uniforms will roll out April 1, with a new style of blue clothing replacing the department’s gray shirts.

“It’s similar to other departments, more casual,” Ridenhour said of the uniforms, picked by a committee after officers approached him.

With fewer departments wearing gray, replacing those uniforms was becoming difficult.

“I’m a traditionalist,” Ridenhour said of the new look, “but they convinced me.”

The new uniforms are being purchased using the annual clothing allowance received by officers, at no extra cost to the taxpayer, Ridenhour said.

When he was hired as Stratford’s deputy chief, those who worked with Ridenhour in Waterbury saluted his skills in the community.

“He was doing a fantastic job up there,” former Stratford Fire Chief James Cavanaugh, who also led the Waterbury Fire Department, said at the introduction of Ridenhour in 2009. “He took neighborhoods nobody wanted, and he and the neighborhood really cleaned up Waterbury.”

Ridenhour holds a bachelor’s degree from Charter Oak State College and a master’s degree in organizational management and leadership from Springfield College.

He is a 2003 graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., where he earned a certificate in criminal justice education from the University of Virginia.

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