Local News

New assistant chief is pioneer for the police

By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer

Published December 11 2006

STAMFORD - Assistant police chief Susan Bretthauer is used to being first.

After five years as a captain, Bretthauer recently became the first woman promoted to assistant chief in Stamford, where she will help oversee department operations.

During her 23-year career, she has been the first woman to hold lieutenant and captain ranks within the city's police department. Now, she'll be one of two officers second-in-command to the chief. She is to be sworn in by Mayor Dannel Malloy on Dec. 28.

Bretthauer is modest about embracing her role as pioneer. Aware of the weight and responsibilities that "first" titles carry, Bretthauer considers herself a hard worker rather than a trendsetter.

"It's a factual thing," Bretthauer said during an interview in her office. "Doing my job has always been what's important to me."

Police Chief Brent Larrabee said Bretthauer's education, leadership and street skills made her the right choice for the position. She holds a master's degree in communication counseling from Fairfield University and in 2003 attended the FBI's national academy. She will earn about $104,500 in her new job.

"She's well-versed in almost every aspect of the job," Larrabee said. "She also has a real enthusiasm and passion for the job. Sometimes we don't find that in everybody."

Bretthauer, 50, will work with Assistant Chief Robert Nivakoff, who was promoted last year. Larrabee said he is working with Bretthauer and Nivakoff to reshape their positions to include more oversight of operations, and improving policy and procedures throughout the department.

Part of Bretthauer's focus will include outreach to police departments and law enforcement organizations in hopes of developing new practices for Stamford police.

"We want to know what's going on around the world in policing," Larrabee said. "If we can adopt and use someone else's techniques that are great, we want them."

Bretthauer is enthusiastic when she talks about her career. She always knew she wanted to be cop. As a child, she was attracted to "the idea of getting the bad guy."

She attended college on a basketball scholarship and remains an athlete and avid sports fan. Her office wall is decorated with a New York Yankees clock.

After graduating from St. John's University in New York in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, Bretthauer turned down a basketball contract for the Women's Basketball Association and instead headed to the Connecticut State Police Academy.

It was the late 1970s, a time when being a cop wasn't considered cool.

The social and political unrest of the 1960s lingered. Radical organizations referred to officers as "pigs." At the academy, officers were shown videos of militant groups setting fire to police dummies.

The face of law enforcement also was changing.

"Female officers in policing in general was still relatively new, it was still growing," she said. "But I had no doubt that I could do the job."

Bretthauer joined Stamford's police department in 1983, after working for the Easton Police Department for four years, where she was the first female officer on the force.

A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Bretthauer had left Easton in search of a more urban environment. The crack epidemic and gangs were in full throttle when Bretthauer was assigned to patrol Stamford's West Side and South End. The city was hardly a sleepy suburb. She has handled her share of bar brawls, chasing burglars and ducking bullets. She's also earned a reputation for being tough but fair.

"I remember going from one stabbing to another on Friday nights," she said. "And not ever using the elevator in (Southfield) Village because you never knew when the doors opened what would be waiting for you."

Gratitude expressed by former convicts or victims she helped along the way offered some confirmation she was doing her best.

"What I wanted to accomplish in being a cop, those are the ways you find out," she said.

Of all the positions she has held in Stamford - midnight sergeant, overseeing the police academy, dispatch sergeant, community oriented police sergeant - it was during her stint as a patrol sergeant that she felt she made the biggest impact. There, she worked directly with officers to ensure they had the tools and training to do their jobs, honing in on officers' talents and pushing them to do their best.

"There are a lot of smart people on this job at every rank and you can really tap into that," Bretthauer said.

Bretthauer said she is looking forward to helping bring the police department fully into the 21st century with improved technology and practices. Most of all, she wants to continue to just be a good cop.

"I get paid to do something I love to do," she said. "I can't imagine anything better than that."