The West Hartford Police Department held a promotion ceremony on Jan. 8, 2025.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford Police honored four members of the department who have been promoted at a ceremony at Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon, with a large crowd of family, friends, and other current and retired department members, town staff, and officials in attendance.

Those promoted included Capt. Aaron Vafiades, Lt. Michael Boughton, Sgt. Ryan Xenelis, and Sgt. Andrew Teeter.

Mayor Shari Cantor said one of the things that makes West Hartford so special is the community’s support of the police department. “The chief will often say thank you … but the support comes from what they see, and they see and they trust in what you do. And they see the results of the remarkable work every day, and whether it’s helping somebody that’s in need or enforcing laws that are really important to the safety and well-being of our community, you do that with such professionalism and courage and tremendous respect.”

Town Manager Rick Ledwith also shared some comments, noting the “dedication, hard work, and leadership” of the four who have been promoted. Support of their families has been and will continue to also be critical to their success, he said.

“Leadership in our police department is about more than taking on a new title,” said Ledwith. “It’s about inspiring others, setting a standard of excellence, and fostering trust in our community. Strong leadership ensures that our department continues to uphold values of integrity, accountability, and service to our residents who rely on it.”

Chief Vernon Riddick said those who have been promoted are being rewarded for their dedication, sacrifice, excellence, hard work, and commitment – not just for themselves but for the greater good of the organization.

Being a supervisor at different levels means “different devils,” Riddick said, and being a supervisor is about setting standards and maintaining excellence. “Do not be concerned with being liked. If you do what’s right, they will respect you. Your people will respect you. It’s never about you,” Riddick said. Learning from mistakes helps others learn from your success, he added.

“Laziness stops ambition, anger stops wisdom, fear stops dreams, ego stops growth, jealousy kills peace, and doubt stops confidence,” said Riddick. But each individual needs to be dealt with differently, and he said those words can be flipped for an equally powerful message. “I have the utmost confidence that you will continue to do the right thing to sacrifice for the West Hartford Police Department,” Riddick said.

Before they were administered the oath of office and pinned by family members, Assistant Chief Larry Terra shared some biographical information about each of the department members being honored.

Vafiades, who was born and raised in Maine, joined the West Hartford Police Department after graduating from the University of New Haven with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2007. He recently earned a masters in public administration from the University of New Haven, and in 2024 also graduated from the Southern Police Institute’s Command Officer Development course and Police Executive Research Forums Senior Management Institute.

He worked as a patrol officer, bike patrol officer, and field training officer before being promoted to sergeant in 2015. He served as a detective sergeant, and since 2018 has been a lieutenant in the Patrol Division, Detective Division, and commander of the Professional Standards Unit. He has also served on the West Hartford Police Officers Association executive board.

Vafiades is a member of the Emergency Service Unit, where he has been an operator, sniper, team leader, and commander.

Terra noted that in his 17½-year career, “Capt. Vafiades has been the recipient of two MADD awards, seven Unit Citations, two Merit Awards, and a Life Saving Award.”

Boughton, originally from New Britain, was hired by the West Hartford Police Department in 2014, and has worked on all three shifts in the Patrol Division, as a field training officer, and as a member of the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) where he was trained as a police sniper and kinetic breacher.

Boughton was promoted to sergeant in January 2022 and is currently the assistant team commander for ESU, oversees the Capitol Region Kinetic Breaching Team, is supervisor of the Community Support Unit (CSU), and is a member of the Greater Hartford Regional Auto Theft Task Force.

“Thus far in his career Lt. Boughton has received multiple Department Unit Citations, to include being selected by his peers and supervisors as the 2021 Exchange Club Police Officer of the Year,” Terra said.

Xenelis is a Connecticut native, graduate of Xavier High School, and earned his bachelor’s degree in justice and law administration from Western Connecticut State University where he also played rugby and was a two-year team captain.

He joined the West Hartford Police Department in April 2013, and worked all three shifts of the Patrol Division. Since becoming a field training officer in 2017, he has trained more than 40 officers. He was promoted to the rank of detective in 2022.

Xenelis was assigned to the Community Support Unit (CSU) in 2019, “a proactive unit that investigates vice, narcotics, and violent crimes within the Town of West Hartford. He was also trained in crisis intervention training to help better respond to calls involving persons in mental health crisis,” Terra said.

Teeter is a native of a small town in California “where the livestock doesn’t outnumber the people but it’s close,” Terra said, and his father retired after 35 years with the Monterey County Sherriff’s Office where he was chief deputy. After graduating from high school in 2003, Teeter headed east to Norwich University, a military college in Northfield, VT, where he was a member of the Cadet Corps all four years and participated in Marine Corps and Army ROTC programs. During college, he also served as a firefighter (certified Level I Firefighter) with the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.

Teeter joined the West Hartford Police Department in August 2007, and has worked all three shifts in the Patrol Division, been a field training officer for 10 years, worked in the Traffic Division, and served in the Honor Guard for more than a decade. He has also served with the Capital Region Dive and Recovery Team for eight years, and on the Community Interaction Team for three years.

Teeter was selected to be a K-9 handler in 2019, and since then has had an effective partnership with K9 Islay, who is trained in patrol utility (tracking, building searches, area searches, evidence recovery, criminal apprehension, and handler protection as well as illegal narcotics detection). The team was involved in an incident involving the deadly use of force in West Hartford in 2023, which the Inspector General recently announced was justified.

“Over the course of his career, Sgt. Teeter has earned 14 Departmental Awards, to include one Lifesaving Award, and in 2018 he was selected by his peers as the American Legion Officer of the Year,” Teeter said. In 2022, he became president of the department’s Fraternal Oder of Police Lodge.

Teeter is looking forward to the new challenges of being a supervisor, and told We-Ha.com that he will continue as the handler for K-9 Islay.

Cantor administered the oath of office to those who were promoted, and each was pinned by family members. Capt. Peter Juda served as emcee, and Pastor Eric Peoples gave the invocation.

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