Following the departure of Tim Shaw, Richard Doyle became Easton’s seventh police chief. He leads a staff of 15 officers, many of whom have been in the department for a long time.
Having served in Easton’s Police Department for 32 years, Doyle brings insights and experience to the job and appreciates the town’s unique character.
He noted that Easton residents were proud of their community, valued their privacy and that Easton “had not been overtaken by industry like other towns.”
Over the years, Doyle built a wide network of law enforcement and essential service contacts in the area, a definite asset to residents.
In his new post, he stressed the need to be both accountable and flexible. He expressed the overarching responsibility to serve and protect, but also to be a reassuring presence.
He expects all officers to attend sporting events and town gatherings and he stressed that officers be on hand “not in a law enforcement capacity, but in a community relations role.”
Doyle was unanimously appointed chief by the Easton Police Commission on March 6 after Shaw announced he had accepted the position of chief of the Stamford Police Department.
Richard J. Colangelo Jr., Connecticut’s Chief State’s Attorney and Easton Board of Police Commissioners chairman, swore in Doyle as Easton’s new police chief in the 9/11 Memorial in front of the Easton Public Library. The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the outdoor oath.
Exemplifying his community-mindedness, Doyle honored long-time Easton resident Peter Bellew with a promotion to honorary police officer on the occasion of Bellew’s 100th birthday.
A typical celebration wasn’t possible because of the pandemic, so a parade of police cars, fire engines and ambulances drove past Bellew’s house in honor of his milestone birthday.
