Bethel PD Names Richard Dickinson​ Officer of the Year

BETHEL, CT --- The Bethel Police Department have named Lieutenant Richard Dickinson Officer of the Year. Dickinson was honored at the Bethel Police Annual Awards Dinner on April 13 and the Danbury Exchange Club's Dinner on April 19.

Dickinson is a senior member of the department with over 37 years of service. He has moved through the ranks spending time as a patrol officer, patrol sergeant, detective sergeant, field operations commander and field services commander, as well as some 15 years as the department traffic safety officer, and has served as a firearms instructor and a armorer.

Acting in the capacity of Traffic Safety Officer, Dickinson studied and analyzed traffic patterns and accidents and, as such is requested at frequent Police Commission meetings in order to discuss, appraise, and give advice to the police commission helping them make decisions on traffic related issues. As Training Officer, he created and implemented new in-house programs such as eLearning and "use of force" which helped streamline training. In the past year Dickinson also acted as the department guru in legal updates (new laws and changes) and created a legal update packet for every officer, a personal effort he has continued over numerous years.