VERNON, CT — Coffee with the chief was a big hit at Radian Coffee on Hartford Turnpike in Vernon Wednesday.
It was also a chance for new Vernon police chief Marc Petruzzi to get to know the folks in town.
Petruzzi is no stranger to the area, having grown up in South Windsor and currently living in Glastonbury, but still, he’s big on community policing and that includes a coffee hour or two.
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“My favorite job was when I was a resident state trooper in Somers from 2004 t 2005,” he said. “I was able to get back to community policing. It’s the basis of it all. It’s true policing.”
He also said he’s finding Vernon to be a good place for that.
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“Vernon has a sense that everyone is earning our future,” he said. “A community like this makes everything better for everyone.”
Petruzzi spent about two hours mingling.
He was sworn in as Vernon’s next police chief on April 22.
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Petruzzi, 48, is a 22-year veteran of the Connecticut State Police force, where he attained the rank of captain. He was, prior to Vernon, the deputy police chief in Wethersfield, where he served as the department’s second-in-command since September 2022.
With the state police, his duties included serving as a patrol trooper, resident trooper, barracks commander in Colchester and Hartford, internal affairs investigator, chief of staff to the commander of state police administrative services and commander of the labor relations unit.
As captain and deputy chief in Wethersfield, Petruzzi’s responsibilities included budgeting and fiscal management, evaluation and rewriting of the department’s general orders, introduction of new technology and equipment, hiring, community outreach, internal affairs, training and management of department logistics and strategic planning, officials said.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and master’s degree from the University of St. Joseph. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
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