Officer Michelle Landry Retires, Leaves Friendly Legacy in Vernon

VERNON, CT — Officer Michelle Landry, a popular cop known to thousands of school children as Officer Friendly, officially retired from the force on Friday.

Landry had served 20 years with the Vernon Police Department. She was known to be tough, but fair on the job and her real love was working with children, so when she had a chance to help revive and streamline the Officer Friendly program under mayor Daniel Champagne, a former popular school officer himself, she dove into the assignment with a passion that combined her police training and her experiences as a mom of two girls and a youth sports coach.

The Officer Friendly program is designed to not only get school-age children comfortable with police, but teach them safety and sensibility.

"Michelle helped us get back into the schools," Chief James Kenny said.

Added Capt. John Kelley, "She updated and modernized the program to a point it is a model for other agencies."

Landry's commendations include the life-saving award, the distinguished service and unit citation awards.

"Working with the children was always something that was important to me," is something Landry said throughout her career and repeated during Friday's retirement ceremony.

Landry might maintain that thought for a while as a civilian. She hinted she might relax for a bit but then pursue school security positions in the area.

Her husband, Stan, is a firefighter in Vernon and at the University of Connecticut. He, too, said he is thinking about retiring, perhaps even this fall.

If she does, she already knows what to teach.

"The biggest challenge is technology," she said. "We tell kids not to talk to strangers and then we have things like the Internet and Uber. Hopefully, the kids will understand the common sense we have taught."

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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