Volume 20, Number 26
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
‘WALK ON DOWN A COUNTRY ROAD’
Resident state troopers protect small towns By Daniel Jackson
Town Times
“I guess my feet know where they want me to go walking on a country road.” Perhaps nobody described this feeling better than James Taylor in his classic song “Country Road.” As a tribute to that glorious experience Diana Carr went off the beaten track to explore some of the back roads in the Town Times area such as an amble down Miller Road seen above. For more country road trips see page 12.
Middlefield’s Boyle to start for UConn By Mark Dionne
ing quarterback for the first four games of the year. UConn’s season got off to a miserable start. The Huskies When the stand winless at 0-4. That reUConn footcord includes a 33-18 loss to ball team Division 1-AA Towson, and, takes the most recently, a 41-12 thumpfield against ing at the hands of Buffalo. South Florida After the Buffalo game, Saturday, Oct. UConn fired head coach Paul 12, the offense Pasqualoni, who leaves after will be led by Tim Boyle two-plus seasons with a 10-18 quarterback record. Tim Boyle of T.J. Weist, UConn’s firstMiddlefield. Boyle replaced junior year offensive coordinator, Chandler Whitmer, the start- was named interim coach and Town Times
will, like Boyle, face his first test against South Florida. Boyle steps into a difficult situation. According to ESPN.com, UConn ranks last among all Division 1-A teams in rushing at 45.8 yards per game, and is near the bottom in most offensive categories. UConn has allowed 20 sacks in four games. The offensive line coach, George DeLeone, was fired along with Pasqualoni. See UConn / Page 21
Friday, October 11, 2013
Durham has an area of 23 square miles; Middlefield, 13. Neither town has a police department. Instead, the towns rely on the resident state trooper program run by the Connecticut State Police, a program which assigns a trooper to cover the town day in and day out. “We’re here to protect and serve. It’s not just speeding tickets,” said Sgt. Sal Calvo, the trooper who oversees the two resident troopers in the towns. Calvo said the town of Durham was assigned a resident trooper when it started to grow. “The town became more populated. We started to see more occurrences of break-ins,” he said. There were also fender-benders and other incidents that required a police officer. Thirty years ago, the middle of Durham was a gas station, a package store and a restaurant. Now, “it’s main street.” While people would like to think Durham has low crime, Calvo said, “this is not 1986 anymore.” For instances, these days the resident trooper in Durham, Peter DiGioia, often deals with break-ins. Residents will leave electronics in sight in unlocked cars, Calvo said, making easy targets. Troopers deal with issues such as underage drinking as well. Calvo said in a recent survey, 21 percent of Durham
and Middlefield youth 12 to 18 said they had a drink in the month before they were surveyed. Troopers come from Troop F, stationed at the Westbrook Barracks, a 38-minute drive away from Middlefield Town Hall, according to Google Maps. Troopers can get there faster if they are responding to a “hot call.” “Durham and Middlefield is the absolute outskirts of our coverage,” Calvo said. Troop F covers Old Lyme east to the Guilford line and north to the Middletown/ Meriden line. Today, the state police keeps a trooper patrolling the area at all times. If an incident such as a domestic involving weapons, or a bank robbery happens in the area, a trooper can be there in minutes. “As a law enforcement agency we never have a gap in coverage,” said Patrick Torneo, commanding officer of Troop F of the Westbrook Barracks. One trooper is assigned to the area, but the Westbrook Barracks schedule patrols and roving troopers to ensure the towns have a police presence at all times. The resident trooper program has a long history with the state police and is a vital part of the communities the program covers, Torneo said. The resident trooper program is based in community policing theory. “Every community is a little different,” he said, and the resident trooper See Troopers / Page 23