“It’s kind of shell shock. I’ve just managed to put 38 years into boxes and put them in a cruiser,” he said.

Chapman, 60, has the longest tenure of town service of any current employee, joining the Police Department as a full-time officer on July 1, 1970, and officially retired on that same day 38 years later.

He actually can claim 39 years of service, because he worked as a police supernumerary while still a student at the University of New Haven in 1969.

Since that modest start, Chapman earned promotions to detective, sergeant, staff sergeant, and to lieutenant in 1992. In 2000, selectmen and the Board of Police Commissioners honored Chapman for what was then 30 years of service to Clinton.

In a realignment of the department’s rank structure in 2003, Chapman was assigned the rank of major, one of the department’s top three administrators with responsibility for all patrol functions.

The recipient of numerous awards and commendations, Chapman is a graduate of the National Academy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and of the Command Training Institute of Babson College.

Among his traits, Chapman is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the town, its residents, and its occasionally eccentric history. A modest man, Chapman described the greatest satisfaction in his career was provided by the accomplishment of fellow officers, in the solving of the 1975 murder of the newborn infant known as Baby X by Detective Joseph Flynn and retired Detective James Budkus in 2003.

“Even though it didn’t lead to arrests, today we know who is responsible,” Chapman said.

Chief Joseph Faughnan said of Chapman, “He has had an outstanding career as a police officer. He was very proud to be a Clinton police officer, and he did a great job through all these years. I’ll miss him as a colleague and as a friend.”

“I’ve had a great career, I’ve enjoyed myself, and I’ve worked with a great bunch of people,” Chapman said. “But it’s time for me to move on, and I’m ready to do that. I’m glad I’ve been offered the opportunity to go.”

Chapman said he first inquired about retirement in 1995, when he completed 25 years with the town, but began seriously exploring the possibility only in recent years, only to be stymied by the unavailability of continuing medical insurance.

“Everyone before me had medical benefits (upon retirement), but I couldn’t afford to not have medical insurance, so I’ve been hanging on. First Selectman (William) Fritz worked on an agreement to get me out the door, and to his credit, he got that done with the assistance of the police commission,” Chapman explained.

Rather than extending his medical insurance, selectmen and the Finance Board have approved a $110,000 buyout of the remaining year of Chapman’s employment contract. Fritz said Chapman then can use those funds to purchase medical insurance through the town, as is an option for any retiring employee.

“He wants to retire but hasn’t been able to, so we’re trying to give him a way to walk away as thanks for all his years of service,” Fritz explained. The agreement, which would utilize undesignated surplus funds, awaits approval of an 8 p.m. town meeting July 30.

©New Haven Register 2008