Like Father, Like Son: Legacy Continues For New Enfield Police Officer

ENFIELD, CT — Two new police officers were sworn into the Enfield Police Department last month, and one of them is carrying on a family legacy.

Joel Roy and Tyler Casale are the latest additions to the Enfield force. They will spend considerable time training at the Connecticut Police Academy in Meriden before starting a field training and evaluation program, Chief Alaric Fox said.

In the 2012 Fermi High School yearbook, Casale wrote his future plans were "to become a police officer." He began working toward his dream by joining the Enfield Police Explorers as a teenager, then became an auxiliary police officer before a four-year stint as a part-time animal control officer following graduation. He spent eight years as a police officer at the University of Hartford, including the last two as a sergeant, before shifting his focus to his hometown.

Another reason Casale already knows his way around the Elm Street headquarters is his dad, Dan, retired from the department last fall after a career spanning four decades, including more than 35 years in Enfield.

"I always wanted to get into law enforcement after growing up seeing my father go to work every day as an Enfield police officer," the younger Casale told Patch. "Being a police officer has always been my dream, going as far back as I remember. Working for the Enfield Police Department specifically was always my ultimate goal."

At the swearing-in ceremony, Dan Casale had the privilege of pinning his son's new badge No. 489 on him. It is the second time he has been accorded that honor, having done so for his son Christopher upon his induction into the Hartford Police Department. He is now an officer in East Hartford.

"I am very proud of them," Dan Casale told Patch.

Tyler Casale said, "Having my father pin my badge during my swearing-in ceremony was the obvious and natural thing to do. I believe it was probably one of the proudest moments in both of our lives."

He becomes the third current member of the Enfield force to follow in their fathers' footsteps. Tom Chagnon II joined the department in May 1998, shortly before the retirement of his dad, Tom Chagnon Sr. In July 2006, Ryan Wesche was sworn in as an officer about four months before the retirement of his dad, Bill Wesche, after a distinguished 32-year career.

Ironically, all three elder officers served long tenures in the detective division. Ryan Wesche is currently a detective, while the younger Chagnon is the resource officer at John F. Kennedy Middle School.

"I made a joke to my dad saying we’ll have to see how many consecutive years there will be a Casale at the Enfield PD," Tyler Casale said. "He started in 1987, and now I will continue that legacy on for many years to come."