Posted by Shore Publishing on Sep 18 2008, 02:32 PM
By Fay Abrahamsson, Harbor News Senior Staff Writer
CLINTON:
When Major William “Bill” Chapman joined the Clinton Police Department (CPD) on July 1, 1970, the world was a different place.
Not only were there no cell phones, there was no 911 number for emergencies. His “portable” radio was the size of a small suitcase and had a three foot antenna. His squad car had no computer nor “cage” to protect him from the criminal world, not to mention any air-conditioning, am/fm radio, power windows, or power doors.
The police department had one dispatcher and one ambulance and was housed in the quaint wooden building adjacent to Andrews Memorial Town Hall (now the Chamber of Commerce office). What is now the “old” police department next door was the fire department.
“I’ve worked in three different facilities, had three different chiefs, and have seen more than 40 officers come and go,” Bill recalls. “I certainly could tell some tales.”
For starters, the town was much quieter and less populated in 1970.
“There was nothing open at night,” he recalls, who said there was no 24-hour gas station, convenience store, or fast-food place. The grocery store was First National, which closed early, and the two restaurants, The Manor (now the Ocean State Job Lot site) and the Hungry Lion, were pretty much it for places to eat.
Bill, who retired July 1 of this year, gave 38 years to the CPD. Prior to his full-time employment; he worked for 10 months as a supernumerary. Bill has the dubious distinction of being the longest-serving town employee now retired. He surpassed Executive Assistant to the First Selectman Shirley Morrison, who also retired this year, by just four years.
Bill, who grew up in Guilford, can trace his family history to the founding fathers of that town. He graduated from Guilford High School and was a student in the first law enforcement class at the University of New Haven.
“My mother’s brother, who was an FBI agent, was an inspiration for me to go into law enforcement,” says Bill.
He is married to Barbara and has three children: Scott, 34, Brian, 26, and Katie, 24.
“Having a supportive spouse and family is very important in my line of business,” says Bill. “Not only are you gone a lot–but you work weekends, holidays, and nights.”
Bill, who was officially retired for exactly 2 months and 11 days, will be entering a new chapter of his career by taking a position in security for the state’s judicial system this week. He will provide security services to a non-courthouse facility for the office of adult probation.
“There are judicial buildings all over the state that are not courthouses,” says Bill. “These include judges, parole, and probation offices.”
Bill, who saw the position posted on-line, thought he might be a good match for the job that required “prior police experience.”
Thirty-eight years might do it.