Lawmaker proposes arming lake patrol officers
No one wants a repeat of 2020, when pent-up demand for social gatherings saw boats tying up for ‘rafting’ parties and people crowding onto islands for destructive celebrations.
“Last summer was a zoo here,” said Patrick Callahan of New Fairfield, a newly elected state representative, who represents four of the five towns surrounding Candlewood Lake. “The islands were getting trashed, jet skis were popping up all over the place, and the population on the lake just exploded.”
In response, Callahan has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would require Connecticut to provide firearms training for lake patrol officers “to ensure lake patrolmen are able to carry firearms or batons while on duty.”
The idea, Callahan says, is to be sure the 24 seasonal officers who patrol the 5,400-acre Candlewood Lake have all the training and support of other law enforcement officers to do their jobs safely.
A veteran board member of the five-town governing authority that manages Candlewood Lake agrees.
“If one patrol officer is on a boat trying to get a couple hundred half-drunk people off an island after it’s already been posted that the islands are closed, how safe is that (unarmed) officer going to feel,” asked Phyllis Schaer of
Sherman, a Candlewood Lake Authority board member and its former chairman.
Callahan’s legislation, which is yet to be discussed by the Candlewood Lake Authority board, is part of a larger effort to expand Candlewood Lake’s patrol force by adding new shifts, hiring new lake patrol officers, and putting a new boat in the water.
It comes at a time when Connecticut’s largest lake is confronting another threat to its quality of life — zebra mussels, an invasive species that can “out-compete” other organisms needed for Candlewood’s ecological health.
Callahan’s legislation also reopens a debate from a decade ago, when some
towns questioned the higher insurance costs for officers carrying firearms. That debate was settled in 2010, when the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection ruled that the only lake patrol officers who could carry firearms were those with training certification typical of an active-duty police officer.
Part of Callahan’s legislation would “make (it) mandatory, instead of optional, that lake authorities indemnify lake patrolmen while acting in the scope of their employment.”
The carrying debate
Callahan, who was chairman of the Candlewood Lake Authority when the 2010 stipulation was reached with the state, said he wasn’t trying to preempt the authority of Candlewood Lake’s governing
body, but was only looking out for officers at a time when they are poised to be busier than ever.
“For many years, all the lake patrol officers carried sidearms,” Callahan said. “I’ve been contacted by concerned people saying, ‘We’ve haven’t been offered this training.’ ”
The Candlewood Lake Authority could discuss Callahan’s bill as soon as its Feb. 10 board meeting.
Marianne Gaffey, Candlewood Lake Authority’s chairman; Mark Howarth, CLA’s executive director, and Nick Mellas, CLA’s patrol chief, did not return messages on Friday seeking a comment for this story.
Mark Toussaint of New Milford, a Candlewood Lake Authority board member and its former vice chairman, said he was keeping an open mind about the bill.
“On both sides I think there are reasonable concerns,” Toussaint said. “If Pat is successful doing what he is trying to do, the state legislature would provide cover in terms of the insurance issue, and everyone involved may feel more comfortable.”
Schaer said she understood the safety concerns of unarmed officers.
“I can tell you I understand their concerns because last year it was a zoo,
with uncontrolled partying and people from the town launches ferrying nonboaters to the islands and sometimes charging them and leaving them there,” Schaer said. “We had situations where there were more people on the islands than we had boats to take them off in the case of an emergency.”
Candlewood Lake activity was so heavy last year that it wore out two CLA Marine Patrol boats.
“Last summer’s activity really stressed the patrols and the boats,” Toussaint said.
One replacement boat was purchased with the help of a $100,000 gift in December from FirstLight Power.
The Candlewood Lake Authority is hoping to replace the second boat in its newest budget, which is supported by Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford and Sherman.
Callahan’s bill has been referred to the state legislature’s Joint Committee on the Environment.
“The bottom line is we want DEEP to provide training,” Callahan said. “It’s up to DEEP and the towns to decide whether they want the officers to carry.”