Allan Appel Photo
Roach and fellow new Detectives Segui and Stone.
During her police academy training, when she saw films of possible career routes in the department, Lucille Roach knew instantly she wanted to be a detective.
She fulfilled that dream 15 years later when a gold badge was presented to her.
Roach was among 15 police officers, five of them women, promoted to the rank of detective in moving and ceremonial proceedings that drew 150 family members and admirers Friday afternoon to the auditorium of Wilbur Cross High School.
Twenty-one officers took the detectives’ exam on February, 18 passed, and 15 were promoted on Friday toward the aim of filling 29 detective vacancies in the department. (Click here to read that story.)
Roach has the longest record of service of the 15 promoted, with 15 years under her belt spanning assignments as a school resource officer, in the investigative services Division and major crimes units, and most recently walking a beat in the Hill North district.
When she walked across the stage shaking hands with the police and municipal brass, hoots and hollers went up from her large family, who include seven brothers and a sister, six of whom are current or retired law officers, either police or probation.
The Roach family planted its flag in New Haven on James Street. Officer — now Detective — Roach continues to live in Fair Haven.
Officers who want to move up in the ranks can take the sergeants’ exam or the detectives’ exam. Roach said she chose the detective route because “it makes you well rounded.”
The other officers who became detectives are Joseph Aurora, Manmeet Colon, Paul D’Andrea, Mark DeCarvalho, Gary Hammill, Mary Helland, Justin Marshall, Ryan McFarland, Jose Miranda, Dennis O’Connell, Jonathan Pleckaitis, Martin Podsiad (the high scorer on the test), Betsy Segui, and Jessica Stone.
Detective DeCarvalho, with wife Megan and daughter Riley.
Detective DeCarvalho said he chose to become a detective because he wasn’t yet ready to step into a supervisor’s role, which is the sergeant’s job.
“When you become a supervisor you take a step away from the investigative aspects, and you become more of an administrator,” he said.
He said he liked the idea of taking all he’s learned from nine years on patrol into being a detective. “It’s crucial to have patrol experience first,” he said.
While he’s solved crimes as a beat officer if the investigation is not prolonged, he said he was looking forward to the different pace of detective work.
“As a patrol officer you go from call to call. As a detective, the pace is different,” and you can stick with an investigation through to the end, he said.
DeCarvalho is used to going from call to call of a different kind, as a young dad. His wife Megan, 4‑year-old daughter Logan, and 1‑month-old daughter Riley all presented him with his gold badge. Instead of celebrating with a meal out, the new detective said he planned to go home to his bed to get some sleep, if his daughter allowed him.
In his remarks to the new detectives, Police Chief Dean Esserman quipped that the bothersome flickering lights that sometimes oscillated across the stage and podium would only make the gold shields about to be presented shine even more.
“This is a happy day. We are a grateful police department. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for helping us to rebuild our department,” he said.
The chief said that in the world of policing, “there’s one badge, the detective’s, that’s most respected. They’re [detectives] the ones they write the books about” because they’re the ones who solve the crimes and bring justice.
As he asked the officers to raise their hands to take the oath, Mayor John DeStefano said, “The first time you were sworn in was based on your training. Now it’s based on [your] accomplishment.”
In keeping with a policy Chief Esserman has initiated in which a new “command college” or other appropriate training follows immediately on the heels of promotion, the newly minted detectives will devote next week to five days of specialized training, three at the University of New Haven and two at headquarters.
Before then, however, Detective Jessica Stone and her family, including 4‑and-half month-old baby Charlotte Rose (pictured), said they were going to celebrate by going to Red Lobster for biscuits and a crustacean.
