Historical Perspective

1976-1994

In June 1976, the Court of Common Pleas, which occupied the second floor of the police station (except the four offices in the south wing), relocated to East Hartford. Federal funding was obtained and major renovations were made to the building and a two story wing, with a cell block of 10 cells and processing and interview rooms, was added. At this same time, the communications system was modified and the E911 emergency phone system was implemented. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for this "new and improved" facility was held on Sunday, October 29, 1979.

In 1979, the decision was made to create a SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team in the department. Sergeants Russ Holyfield and Roy Abbie, and Officers Joseph Amato, Richard Busick, John Marvin, and Gary Schwartz were chosen for this team. They received specialized training in firearms, building entry, and repelling, and received advanced training with the FBI's SWAT teams.

In 1977, the department was awarded a $170,000 grant for the L.E.A.A. for a mini-computer. A Digital Equipment Corporation PDP 1170 computer was purchased, and "dumb" terminals were installed throughout the building. A database software package called ADMINS 11, which had been developed by two MIT researchers, was acquired and two officers, Gary Minor and John Hanley, were assigned to design and implement a system of record keeping and retrieval for the Manchester Police Department.

In 1981, one of the data processing positions was "civilianized," and a civilian computer programmer, Richard Smith, was hired. Manchester's computer system evolved, and in 1984, the PDP 1170 was replaced with a DEC VAX 11/750 computer.

The ADMINS software was used until 1990, when the department purchased and integrated records and CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) software package called CHIEFS. An IBM AS/400 Model B35 was purchased to run the CHIEFS application.

Motorcycles had been a part of the department's equipment for more than 30 years. The department's first Harley Davidson motorcycle was driven by Lieutenant Raymond Griffen and Captain Walter Cassels Sr., and the last machine was operated by Patrolman John Baldyga in 1960. Motorcycles made a brief comeback in July 1981 when three 1000cc Kawasaki motorcycles were purchased and a 12 member team was selected.

The team members were: Russ Holyfield, Roy Abbie, Beau Thurnauer, Ed Wilson, Larry Wilson, Robert McNeilly, Wayne Rautenberg, Thomas Passcantell, Howard Beeler, Joseph Amato, Alan Young, and Thomas Holben. Officer Robert Johnson, a certified motorcycle instructor, coordinated the motorcycle training, which included curriculum developed by the California Highway Patrol. A variety of factors, including attrition of the team members through promotions, and the New England weather, resulted in the disuse of the motorcycles. The official end of motorcycle use occurred in March 1993, when the department's five motorcycles (the three Kawasakis and two Yamahas, which had been used for training) were put on the auction block.

From October 1981 to December 1982, Officer Joseph Morrissey was assigned to the Statewide Narcotics Task Force as and undercover officer. Operation MAD ("Manchester Against Drugs") was conducted at the completion of this assignment. Forty-one arrest warrants and a number of search warrants were served in a 24-hour period as a result of the undercover buys made in Manchester during Morrissey's tenure.

In 1983, The Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association of Connecticut (NEOA) presented the Robert F. Stankye Award to Captain James Sweeney for outstanding work in combating drug abuse. Captain Sweeney had assigned three full time investigators to narcotics when he took command of the detective division. He tripled the "but money" available to investigators, purchased surveillance equipment, and obtained undercover cars from local car dealerships to allow for more intensive investigations.
In 1984, Officer Wayne Rautenberg was presented the the NEOA's Robert F. Stankye award. Rautenberg had posed as a crooked cop during a four-month investigation, which led to the break up of a Colombian cocaine ring in 1983, and the seizure of several million dollars in cash and cocaine by FBI and DEA.

In 1986, Lieutenant Russ Holyfield proposed the creation of a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate narcotics activity in the Manchester-Vernon-South Windsor area. In July 1986, Chief Lannan entered into a "secret" agreement with Chief Gary Kology of Vernon and Chief Gary Tyler of South Windsor, and formed the Tri-Town Narcotics Task Force, which was the first multi-jurisdictional drug task force in the state. The task force was composed of members from each of the three police departments. Each TNT member was sworn in all three towns, giving them arrest powers in the Tri-Town area.

The original TNT unit's Manchester members were Lieutenant Russ Holyfield, Sergeant Donald Wright, Sergeant Spence Frazee, Detective Joseph Morrissey, and Officer Wayne Rautenberg. SWPD Officer Paul Taft and Vernon Officer Mike Greenier completed the team. This task force was given the authority to work a narcotics case anywhere in the state, provided it could be shown the drugs were coming into the tri-town area. One of the team's first cases started with one arrest in Manchester based on a dirty mirror, and progressed to Vernon and an ounce of cocaine, and to Danbury and New York City, and finally to the FBI seizure of multi-kilograms of cocaine in the Dominican Republic.

The Manchester Police Department contacted the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (C.A.L.E.A.) on its accreditation process during 1986. Beginning on February 9, 1987, a five man team, ably assisted by Terry Falco, began rewriting and revising the department's rules, regulations, and general orders. This prep-team began its activities with Sergeant Beau Thurnaeur, Sergeant Roy Abbie, Detective Ed Wilson, Officer Peter Moskal, and Officer John Pikiell writing general orders addressing a myriad of topics. The final accreditation team members were Lieutenant Beau Thurnaeur, Detective Peter Moskal, and Mrs. Terry Falco. The Manchester Police Department received initial accredited status on November 18, 1989, at the commission meeting in Houston, Texas. Manchester was the 126th department to be accredited by C.A.L.E.A. and was only the third police department in Connecticut to be so accredited. Manchester received reaccredited status on November 18, 1994, during a commission meeting in San Francisco, California. The reaccreditation team members were Captain Beau Thurnaeur and Officer Paul Gilligan.

In January 1990, the police department and the board of education incorporated a new drug education program into the town's elementary schools. The program, called D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), was founded in Los Angeles in 1983. D.A.R.E. lessons, taught by veteran officers in the classroom in a 17 class program, focus on four areas: providing accurate information about alcohol and drugs; teaching students decision-making skills; showing children how to resist peer pressure; and providing them with alternatives to drug use. In the 1990/1991 school year, Officers Steven Novak, Josh Searle, and Max Cohen instructed every 6th grade in the town's 10 elementary schools.

Chief Robert Lannan suffered a heart attack in April 1990, and retired on January 31, 1992. Henry "Bud" Minor, who had served as acting chief during Lannan's illness, was sworn in as Manchester's sixth chief of police on July 17, 1992. Minor, who had joined the Manchester Police Department on September 4, 1966, and had held every rank in the department from patrolman to deputy chief, was chosen from a field of 113 candidates in a national search. Minor assumed command of a department with 99 sworn officers, 29 civilian employees, and a budget of $8,002,358. In his swearing-in ceremony address, Minor enumerated his goals of increasing the patrol staff, improving the technology available to the department, and replacing the headquarters building.