Where to build? How much to spend?

By Scott Benjamin

Jack Webb narrates:

“This is the town – Brookfield, Connecticut.

During the 1960s, per capita it grew in population more than any municipality in Connecticut.

Today, there are an estimated 70,000 vehicle trips through the Candlewood Lake Road intersection along the southern corridor of Federal Road.

There is traffic congestion and vehicle collisions.

The Brookfield police face this challenge every day."

BROOKFIELD – There is a police movie about to premiere in Brookfield.

However, it won’t have the box office pizzaz of the 1987 Dragnet film starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks.

But municipal officials insist it is of great importance.

The Police Facilities ad-hoc committee will present the video at public outreach sessions this spring to try to generate support for expanding police operations.

First Selectman Steve Dunn, a Democrat, said the video will present the limitations of the current headquarters, built in the mid-1980s at 63 Silvermine Road.

Dunn insists it no longer conforms to federal law enforcement standards.

Selectman Karl Hinger, a Republican, said. "They need at least a remodel if not a full rebuild."

In an interview with Patch.com, Dunn remarked, “We need to have the public understand the reasons for expanding the facilities if we’re going to have their support. We need to show what the current site looks like and the problems that they have with it,”

Hinger said he toured the current headquarters last year when he was running for first selectman.

He commented, "A video would be helpful. A lot of people haven’t walked through the headquarters. You're not going to have the whole town of Brookfield going through the police station. There is not a lot of crime in Brookfield. So people don't think about it much."

Since at least the 2017 election, candidates for first selectman have announced support for expanded police facilities.

Dunn, Hinger and Selectman Bob Belden, an unaffiliated voter, have each said expanding police facilities is the town’s top capital priority.

Brookfield currently has an AAA bond rating. It has a 15.6 percent fund balance and the pensions are 115 percent funded.

But if your credit card is maxed out, how can you embark a major capital project?

Not only were residents paying for the $78.1 million construction of Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which was approved by voters in 2019. They also were financing the final installments on the expansion of Brookfield High School (BHS), which was approved at referendum in 2003.

The BHS payments will be completed this year, which reduces the debt load.

Wilton recently opened a new $19 million police headquarters at 240 Danbury Road that replaces a structure that had been used for 51 years.

Dunn said he has told the ad-hoc committee that he has “a number that I would like them to stay under,” said Dunn.

He declined to disclose that “number.”

“Inflation has been horrific,” Dunn lamented.

He said consultants who worked on the construction of the Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which was approved at referendum seven years ago, have said that $78.1 million project would now cost at least $120 million.

Hinger commented, “I would like to see it under $20 million. I don’t want to draw any firm line. After $20 million you wonder if it will get approved. But I am not firm on that number.”

Former Police Chief Jay Purcell, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee, told the selectmen last summer that the panel would study expanding the existing headquarters, building a new facility on the municipal campus, build at the former Center Elementary School (CES) on Obtuse Hill Road South/Route 133 – or at another location in Brookfield.

He said the ad-hoc committee would have a recommendation by this June.

During a debate last October, Hinger proposed relocating the police headquarters to the CES parcel.

He now says, "From what I hear, it is one of the locations that is being discussed.”

"I don't think there is any location that is perfect," said Hinger. I think that they all have pros and cons."

Dunn said with five intersections near the CES site, it would cause delays for police officers to respond to calls.

He commented, “My preferred location is the municipal campus which is centrally located” in Brookfield.

Dunn added that in 2020 the town approved $585,000 to purchase the 43 Silvermine Road parcel, adjacent to the police headquarters, which could be available for expansion.

Hinger remarked, "There is a good argument to be made to have it on the municipal campus. That is, as long as you can build it without ruining any soccer fields."

Since last year, Dunn has said that he wants to get the referendum question on the November 3 ballot when voters will be casting their votes for governor and other high-profile offices.

However, he said there may be an obstacle.

Dunn said property owners who don’t live in Brookfield can vote on the referendum question but are not eligible to vote in the general election.

He said, “It may have to be a separate vote” in November.

Resources:

Interview with Steve Dunn, Patch.com, Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Interview with Karl Hinger, Patch.com, Monday, April 6, 2026.

goodmorningwilton.com/inside-wilton-police-new-headquarters-construction-photos/

newstimes.com/local/article/Brookfield-buying-property-for-535-000-14954818.php

goodmorningwilton.com/inside-wilton-police-new-headquarter