The West Hartford Police Department held a ceremony Tuesday marking the promotion of Eric Rocheleau to the rank of captain.

By Ronni Newton

Friends and family, town officials, and current as well as numerous retired members of the West Hartford Police Department, gathered in the headquarters training room Tuesday to celebrate the promotion of Capt. Eric Rocheleau.

Speakers praised Rocheleau, who has more than 22 years of service with the West Hartford Police and 28 years of law enforcement experience, as a great example of what community policing is all about.

“Capt. Rocheleau, Eric … I want to congratulate you and your family on this momentous occasion and really thank you for everything you’ve done in your career to date,” Town Manager Matt Hart said.

Hart said Rocheleau has done a tremendous job with the Training Division and in his other leadership roles. “Thank you for your commitment to the department, thank you for your commitment to our organization, and thank you for your commitment to our community, the Town of West Hartford,” he said.

“We’re just so, so pleased that you’ve chosen us as your career, as your department of choice,” said Hart.

“I was so excited when I saw this news because you are really in the fabric of West Hartford,” Mayor Shari Cantor said of Rocheleau, who is also a longtime town resident. “You have become such an integral part of who we are and when we talk about community policing and truly being a part of the community you are the definition of it.”

Cantor said Rocheleau’s leadership “will really resound with all of those around you, and you being an example of what that community policing is really makes my heart grow. I am so grateful, and so proud … and I am so proud of this police department,” Cantor said.

Chief Vernon Riddick said it’s very difficult to make it to this rank, and reaching each level of leadership brings new challenges. “Different levels, different devils,” Riddick said, and being a captain is an enormous responsibility, but “we have no doubt that you will do what you need to do in a professional manner.”

He also noted that the department tried to hold the ceremony in various locations, “but how apropos is it that this promotion would occur here in this room, a place you spent the last several years training folks and leading this organization in the training component,” he said, praising the job Rocheleau did leading the Training Division.

In addition to serving as commander of the Training Division, Rocheleau, who joined the West Hartford Police Department in 1998, is currently Honor Guard commander, a hostage negotiator and Crisis Negotiations Unit commander, and coordinator of the department’s Field Training Program.

Assistant Chief Larry Terra highlighted Rocheleau’s past experience as well, a law enforcement career that began with part-time positions with the Bolton (CT) Police Constabulary and as a Seasonal Conservation Officer with the Connecticut DEEP. He joined the Suffield (CT) Police Department in 1995 and was a uniformed patrol officer for three years.

Since joining the West Hartford Police Department in 1998, Rocheleau has also been a Patrol Division officer and supervisor, a K-9 handler (partnered with K-9 Kora) and K-9 Unit supervisor and trainer, a bicycle officer, firearms instructor, Field Training officer, Community Interaction Team officer and supervisor, Detective Division supervisor, public information officer, Community Relations Division commander, and Peer Team supervisor.

“Capt. Rocheleau is a highly-decorated member of the department,” Terra said.

“In 2005 he and K-9 Kora were the recipients of the Daniel P. Wasson Award, from the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association and the Connecticut Police Chief’s Association. This is the most prestigious award given to a K-9 handler in the state of Connecticut,” said Terra.

Rocheleau has also been named Police Officer of the Year (2008), received 17 Departmental Awards, including one for lifesaving, and is a four-time recipient of the MADD Award for DUI enforcement.

Rocheleau attended Central Connecticut State University, and also attended the University of Louisville Southern Police Institute’s Command Officer Development Course.

Rocheleau’s wife, Debra, and two of his children, Ryan and Grace, pinned him with the new badge while his son Jacob participated from New York via FaceTime.

Chief Riddick also acknowledged and praised the service of Capt. Michael Perruccio, who served as emcee of the promotion ceremony, and who will be retiring as of June 30, 2021 after 25½ years of service.

Deacon Dennis Ferguson of Church of Saint Timothy – who has known the Rocheleau family for many years – gave the invocation Tuesday.

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