Brookfield Selectmen Approve Funds To Upgrade Police Locker Room

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD --The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved three fund requests - totaling $43,360 - to improve municipal police services.

The largest expenditure - $21,500 - would upgrade the female locker room at the headquarters on Silvermine Road.

The selectmen recently appointed a seven-member ad-hoc committee to determine whether that headquarters, which has been operating since the 1980s, should be expanded or a new facility should be constructed. Former Police Chief Jay Purcell and former Board of Education Chairman Matt Grimes are among those serving on that panel.

In response to a question from Selectman Tara Carr, Police Chief John Puglisi said the locker room improvements "can be repurposed" in a new headquarters.

"I'll move it myself if you approve a new building," he added in a light-hearted comment.

Carr, who served as first selectman from 2021 to 2023, and current First Selectman Steve Dunn have said that the current police headquarters doesn't meet federal standards and expanded facilities are overdue.

When she initially ran for the town's top elected position four years ago, Carr indicated that the lack of adequate changing facilities for the female personnel should be addressed.

Expanding police facilities has been a regular topic during municipal campaigns since at least 2017. However, Dunn has said that the town would not be able to reasonably afford to tackle the issue until its bond debt diminishes in or around 2026. The town is currently paying debt on renovations to Brookfield High School, which were approved in 2003, and for the new Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which was approved in 2019.

The selectmen also approved $8,500 to purchase sniper equipment.

Puglisi said four Brookfield officers are on a regional sniper team and at least one of them has had to borrow equipment.

The other expenditure was for $13,360 to purchase dive equipment.,

Puglisi was the money would be used to buy new equipment and replace existing items.

He said the equipment typically has "a 10-year life-cycle."

All three appropriations had previously been approved by the Police Commission.

The selectmen will forward them to the Board of Finance for consideration.