Five officers were promoted and one 2o-year veteran who retired were celebrated in Friday’s ceremony.

From left: Det. Raywood, Sgt. Vafiades, Lt. Ferrucci, Det. Harrison, Capt. McCarthy, and Det. Lascari (retired) at the West Hartford Police Department ceremony on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department.

By Ronni Newton

Six members of the West Hartford Police Department were honored at a ceremony Friday morning as Chief Tracey Gove formally announced five promotions and one retirement.

Kevin McCarthy, who has been with the West Hartford Police Department since 1997, has been promoted to the rank of captain and will now head the department’s Patrol Division – a unit that exceeds the size of many entire Connecticut police departments.

“I know he will do very well,” Gove said of McCarthy who is a former U.S. Marine and Persian Gulf War veteran who worked as an officer with the Enfield Police Department for three years before coming to West Hartford.

Sam Ferrucci, a member of the West Hartford Police Department since 2001, has been promoted to Lieutenant.

Until he reitred in 2014, Ferrucci has concurrently served as a combat medic (First Sergeant) in the U.S. Army and during that time was deployed for a year at time to Afghanistan (2002: Operation Enduring Freedom), Iraq (2007: Operation Iraqi Freedom), and to the Horn of Africa in 2012 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“Today, we are promoting Sam to lieutenant, and while the position won’t be as perilous as that of a battlefield medic, it does require someone who has strong leadership skills, excellent communication skills and the ability to multitask,” Gove said.

Officer Aaron Vafiades, an eight-year veteran of the West Hartford Police Department has been promoted to sergeant.

“Aaron, like our current roster of sergeants, is an excellent role model for other officers. He is very productive, positive, and team player. He has been praised for his professionalism, his demeanor, and terrific police work,” Gove said, adding that he knows Vafiades will be a “noteworthy supervisor.”

Officer Kevin Harrison, also an eight-year veteran, has been promoted to detective.

“Not only has he been aggressive in traffic enforcement, he has arrested many criminals … from those wanted by warrant, to those possessing drugs or other contraband, to stolen vehicles and DUIs. In fact, the first night on his own, after field training, made a DUI arrest of a repeat offender. Ten months later, [it was] documented that he was ‘by far the squad leader in all areas of activity – noted as a high-potential officer,'” Gove said in his remarks.

Officer Daniel Raywood, who came to West Hartford from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2010, has also been promoted to detective.

“Dan defines what I speak of when I say to do this job successfully, you must be a law enforcer, but also a community servant and have the ability to switch those roles at a moments notice,” Gove said, highlighting the many letters from citizens and comments from supervisors that Raywood has received complimenting his care and compassion as well as the thoroughness of his investigations.

Finally, Gove announced the retirement of Detective Dawn Lascari, who after 20 years of service with the West Hartford Police Department will continue to serve the town as a security guard for the West Hartford Public Schools.

Gove praised Lascari for her involvement in multiple high profile cases throughout her years of service – including bank robberies, an abduction, and a robbery homocie.

“And, what’s significant is that she was often able to obtain information on many crimes from interviews alone – she had the ability to build rapport and elicit a lot of good information – cases involving cat-burglars, thefts – including one that resulted in the recovery of thousands of dollars worth of stolen jewelry, to a case that helped Hartford (through the shooting task force) net a large amount of drugs and weapons from a residence in their city,” Gove said.

Lascari was also a fingerprint examiner and technician and credited with revamping the department’s sex offender monitoring process to ensure that it was in full compliance and followed best practices.

The ceremony was attended by the families of the officers as well as many other members of the department and town officials.

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Lt. Sam Ferrucci has been promoted. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department

Sgt. Vafiades has been promoted. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department

Det. Dawn Lascari with Chief Tracey Gove. Det. Lascari has retired and will join WHPS as a security guard. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department.

Det. Daniel Raywood, whose promotion was announced on Friday, Oct. 2, is pinned by his wife, Laura. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department

Det. Kevin Harrison is pinned by his father, Robert, a forensic investigator and fraud examiner. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department

Newly-promoted Capt. Kevin McCarthy is pinned by his wife, Lisa, while daughters Brianna and Allison look on. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department