The West Hartford Police Department honored six members who have been promoted during a ceremony at Town Hall on Wednesday.

By Ronni Newton

Family and friends and department leadership gathered in the Town Hall auditorium Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the promotion of six members of the West Hartford Police Department.

“We want to thank you for your service to our town … We are so proud of our police department, and we know how critical the work you do is to our community. Public safety is such a critical component of what makes West Hartford the community it is today,” said Town Manager Matt Hart. “I know there are many other places where you could work, but you chose to be here, and we are very happy for that,” Hart told the newly-promoted.

Wednesday was Hart’s final time administering the oath of office at a police promotional ceremony, since he announced several weeks ago that he will be stepping down as town manager to become executive director of the Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) in February.

The promotions were to three different levels – two each to lieutenant, sergeant, and detective.

“We have a saying in my church – different levels, different devils,” Chief Vernon Riddick said, telling the newly promoted that the department leadership and members will do whatever they can to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Riddick quoted University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban: “To achieve success you have to maintain your maximum effort each and every day, just to maintain success. … Complacency will make you hate that thing that allows you to achieve success.” The West Hartford Police Department strives to achieve success every day, he said.

“We are in the business of protecting people. We are in the business of serving people,” Riddick said. “Sometimes those two appear to be against each other, but they’re not mutually exclusive. At the end of the day, protection is service.”

The department is young right now, and Riddick promised that the resources will be there to support their success.

Assistant Chief Larry Terra shared the bios of those who were promoted.

Lt. David Michael

Michael is a 14-year veteran of the West Hartford Police Department who previously served for four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He has served in the Patrol Division, Traffic Division, and on the Community Interaction Team, and has been a member of the Emergency Services Unit since 2011, serving as an operator, kinetic breachers, and sniper, and has attended multiple schools and advance police training programs. He was promoted to sergeant in 2019, and is currently assistant commander of ESU and commander of the Capitol Region Council of Government Kinetic breaching Team.

Michael has received multiple merit awards and unit citations, the POSTC Shooting Award, and was the 2015 American Legion Police Officer of the Year.

Lt. Matthew LaRiviere

A native of Oxford, MA, LaRiviere’s worked some early service jobs while in high school, “as a grave digger and a wedding DJ,” Terra said.

He was studying chemical engineering at UMass Amherst when he realized his calling for a career in law enforcement. He became a cadet with the UMass Amherst Police Department, and after earning a degree in sociology with a concentration in criminal justice joined the West Hartford Police Department in 2010.

He was a member of the Patrol Division from 2010-2018, serving as a Field Training Officer, and member of the Honor Guard and Peer Support Team.

He has received several unit citations, a lifesaving award, and has attended multiple specialized training programs. During a stint with the Traffic Division, he represented Connecticut as one of four criminal justice professionals presenting at the 45th Annual International Traffic Records Forum in Austin, TX.

LaRiviere was promoted to sergeant in 2019, and served as senior sergeant for the Patrol Division’s evening shift, FTO program coordinator, and administrator for the Peer Support Team. He is currently commander of the department’s Civil Disorder Unit.

Sgt. Michael Boughton

Boughton grew up in New Britain, CT, and after graduating from New Britain High School in 2009 received a bachelors degree in criminal justice from UMass Boston in 2013.

He joined the West Hartford Police Department in 2014, and spent six years in the Patrol Division, working on all three shifts. He became a Field Training Officer and member of the Emergency Services Unit, where he trained as a sniper and kinetic breacher and is currently an assistant team leader and a firearms instructor.

A licensed drone pilot, Boughton helped create the department’s first drone unit, which has already had success in deployments for missing persons and in monitoring large town events. He has received several unit citations, and was selected by his peers and supervisor as 2021 Exchange Club Police Officer of the Year.

He was named to the Community Support Unit in 2020, and was assigned to the Greater Hartford Regional Auto Theft Task Force. That organization, which was recently created to combat the significant rise in stolen vehicles and serious crimes associated with them, has recovered over 100 stolen vehicles, made numerous arrests, and seized 12 illegal firearms in the past three months, Terra said.

Sgt. Jeffrey Hopkins

Hopkins, who has a degree in criminal justice from Central Connecticut State University, has been a member of the West Hartford Police Department since 2015.

His ties to law enforcement run deep, and include his wife, Farmington Police Off. Alexa Hopkins, his brother, West Hartford Police Off. Joseph Hopkins, and both his father, Jeffrey Hopkins, and his uncle, Christopher Hopkins, who retired from the Hartford Police Department.

Hopkins has served in the Patrol Division and as a Field Training Officer since 2019 has assisted with the training of more than 20 new officers. He has also served in the Traffic Division and with the Bicycle Unit.

Detective Ryan Xenelis

Xenelis, a lifelong Connecticut resident, grew up in Old Saybrook, graduated from Xavier High School, and earned a bachelor’s degree in justice and law administration from Western Connecticut State University, where he played and captained the rugby team.

He served with the Patrol Division after joining the West Hartford Police Department in 2013, and became a Field Training Officer in 2017, since then assisting in the training of more than 40 new officers. Xenelis is also trained as a Court Officer.

Xenelis was assigned to the Community Support Unit in 2019, and is trained in crisis intervention “to better respond to calls involving persons in mental health crisis,” Terra said.

Detective James Mahoney

A graduate of Western New England College with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Mahoney has been a member of the West Hartford Police Department for the past 16 years.

Prior to joining the department, he served in the U.S. Army, and from February 2003 through August 2004 completed a combat deployment with the 439th Quartermaster Company in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mahoney, who is one of the department’s licensed drone pilots, has most recently served as the School Resource Officer at Hall High School, and prior to that worked in the Patrol Division, on all three shifts, and as a Field Training Officer. He has also served with the Traffic Division and Community Interaction Team, and was selected by his peers as the American Legion Police Officer of the Year for 2020.

Riddick expressed his appreciation for the leadership of Hart, and also singled out Capt. Eric Rocheleau, who heads the department’s Administrative Services Department and serves as Public Information Officer, and who will be retiring at the end of January.

“I want to thank you for transforming this program,” he said, noting Rocheleau’s revamping of the promotional ceremony program. “I salute you, and I appreciate you, and I wish you nothing but Godspeed, God’s protection both now and in your future endeavors. Well done.”

Sgt. Amanda Martin served as emcee of the ceremony, and Deacon Dennis Ferguson gave the invocation.

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