Judicial Marshal Roode a motivated, steady supervisor
In positions traditionally filled by males, these women manage stress, work hard and earn respect, each in her own way.
Waterford — Judicial Marshal Sgt. Melissa A. Roode said it was an eye-opener when, during her first month on the job, a prisoner at the Norwich courthouse got hold of a pencil and tried to hurt himself.
“I think at that moment I realized how important the job was,” she said during a recent interview at the juvenile courthouse in Waterford. “We’re here to protect the public and the staff and the prisoners.”
At 34, she is younger, by decades, than some of the five marshals she supervises, but her superiors say she garners respect with her quiet and steady manner. Hired in 2006, she was promoted to sergeant in January 2015 after serving as an acting sergeant for six months. She has worked in three of New London County’s state courthouses, transporting prisoners to and from their court dates, monitoring them in the courthouse lockups, tracking prisoner movement from the marshal’s control center, manning the metal detectors at the courthouse entrances and keeping order in the courtrooms. In her new role, she also handles administrative duties, including attendance, payroll and scheduling.
Roode, who moved to the area from New Britain at age 9, said she always had an interest in law enforcement, mostly because she wanted to help people.
“Naturally I’m a protecter of some sort, a caregiver, wanting to make sure people are safe,” she said.
At age 19, she started working security for the Mohegan Tribe and became certified for bike patrol. In 2006, she learned there were openings for judicial marshals and applied. She was “super excited” when she got the call, and began her 16 weeks of training.
“It pushed me to be athletic,” she said. “The running part was a big challenge. But after I graduated, I found myself going to Bluff Point and doing runs.”
Her first assignment was at the busy Norwich courthouse, where criminal and family cases are heard. She learned everything she could
East Lyme — Police officer Jean Cavanaugh was appalled to learn that a boy had come forward in 2004 to report being sexually assaulted 50 times, but the suspected rapist was not charged after investigations by police and the Department of Children and Families.
“I felt like we let him down,” Cavanaugh, 56, said during an interview in her tiny office at police headquarters on Main Street in Niantic. She is an investigator/youth officer for the town police department, where she has worked for 21 years.
The boy was removed from his home for “acting out,” and Frank McAlpine continued to molest children until another victim disclosed the crimes to a school psychologist a decade later. Cavanaugh launched a new investigation, and
the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in the elementary schools. She said she hopes to work on a follow-up program for older kids that is more specific to the town’s needs.
Two resident troopers recognized Cavanaugh as the town’s Officer of the Year in 2000 and 2009, and in 2008 she received a meritorious service award from the state police for identifying and arresting a man who robbed several convenience stores. She is a recipient of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving law enforcement award.
Cavanaugh took the promotion exam recently to become a sergeant. She got the second-highest score but said she ended up turning down the promotion because she wanted to continue doing what she loves.
She grew up in East Lyme, attended Central Connecticut State University, and worked at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station and United Nucler Corp. after college. But the lure of a law enforcement career was strong for both Cavanaugh and her brother, Robert Pickett, who is a sergeant with the New London Police Department. Their father had been a part-time police officer in East Lyme and New London, and their uncle and cousin, Edward and Ned Pickett, were state troopers. Cavanaugh was married, at the time, to Russ Cavanaugh, who is a sergeant at the New London Police Department. They have since divorced, and their two grown children, ages 26 and 27, live with their mother.
She and her brother took the test together to become Stonington police officers, and Cavanaugh remembers Pickett saying “I’m out of here,” and racing ahead as they ran the required 1 1/2 miles around Masons Island. Both were offered jobs. Cavanaugh accepted a part-time position, but Pickett was already working for another department. When Cavanaugh heard of a full-time position available in her hometown of East Lyme, she said she jumped at it.
Cavanaugh worked the midnight shift for years because it enabled her to be with her kids during the day. “I went to football, baseball and cheerleading,” she said. “I was kind of lucky.”
Her best friend, Laurie Lewis, is a dispatcher in Waterford. They met when Cavanaugh was working as a “matron” for the town police department. Matrons were called in to search women prisoners when female officers were unavailable.
“I have watched Jean work up the ranks,” Lewis said during a phone interview. “She really did work twice as hard as anyone else. She didn’t take shortcuts. She didn’t make excuses. She was out there running and lifting weights. She kind of led by example. She proved that a female can do this job. She paved the way for other females.”
Cavanaugh said she learned the art of talking to people and diffusing tense situations during the midnight shift, when she dealt with a lot of drunken drivers. She said she has never felt more vulnerable on the job than anyone else.
“I tell the kids in DARE, if you have a math test and you study, you’re going to feel less anxious,” she said. “I tell them we train all the time. As long as you’re prepared, you feel better.”
East Lyme resident trooper Sgt. Bill Blanchette said Cavanaugh uses her motherly skills on the job.
“She takes care of her brood, her children,” Blanchette said. “She’s very involved in the schools and DARE and just has that, ‘I need to take care of my kids’ attitude.’’’
Cavanaugh is, after all, a big kid at heart.
“I go to Disney every year to decompress,” she said.