18 months after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, State Police have honored those who responded.  More than 100 awards for outstanding and meritorious service were given to First Responders and others who were part of the immediate and long term response. 

 

Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Schriro delivered remarks.  She said each responder ran to the unthinkable, faced the unbearable and took on the impossible.  Schriro says what they do every day makes it possible for everyone to regain their footing and restores a sense of safety and well being.  For these "gifts of service", she thanked them by saying what they do matters.

 

Governor Dannel Malloy says he's very proud of the work done by all who responded on that day or in the months after.  He saw the faces of men and women bearing witness to unbelievable tragedy and said stoic as they tried to be, the difficult nature of the work they were doing was written on their faces.

 

State police officials handed out awards for outstanding and meritorious service Tuesday at the University of Connecticut's football stadium in East Hartford.

 

State Trooper First Class Matthew Bell was among the first police officers to enter the school and saw the horror. He says receiving an award was an honor, but he's always been more concerned about the well-being of the victims' families.

 

Receiving awards were:

 

First Responders (State Police and Local Police)

Lt. Michael Hofbauer
Lt. Michael Perry
M/Sgt. Michael Davis
Sgt. William Cario
Sgt. Joseph Salmeri
Sgt. Michael O’Donnell
Sgt. Adam Wagnblas
Sgt. Joseph Roden
TFC Christopher Kick
TFC John McGeever
TFC Edward Benecchi
TFC Dennis Keane
TFC William Blumenthal
TFC Anthony Cipriano
TFC Josef Duva
TFC Carlo Guerra
TFC Ken Cournoyer
Det. Christopher Zullo
Det. Patrick Dragon
Tpr. Laurence Greg
Tpr. Andrew Katrenya
Oxford Officer Luke Ramirez
Sgt. Thomas Bennett
Det. Brian Marino
Det. Janice Warkoski
TFC Matthew Bell
New Milford Police Det. Scott Flockhart
Newtown Police Officer Thomas Bean
Wolcott Police Officer Leonard Greene
Brookfield Police Officer Jared Turner
 

State Police Emergency Services Unit
Capt. Louis J. Fusaro
M/Sgt. Christopher McCarthy
Sgt. Raoul Palen
Sgt. Christopher Bartolotta
Sgt. Michael Alogna
Sgt. Chick Bistany
Sgt. Patrick Cauley
Sgt. Jeffrey Dubuc
Sgt. Kenneth Albert
Sgt. Shawn Corey
Sgt. Eric Murray
Sgt. Joseph Mercer
Sgt. James Kodzis
Sgt. Robert Girard
TFC Michael Avery
TFC Mark Wyler
TFC Eric Basak
TFC Arthur Derderian
TFC Brian Faughnan
TFC Chad Gomez
TFC Christopher Lunz
TFC Robert Maynard
TFC Steven Rief
TFC Daniel McCarthy
TFC William Rochette
TFC Joseph Voket
TFC David Luke
TFC David Lavoie
TFC James O’Donnell
TFC Richard Oenning
TFC Kevin Cook
TFC Steven Chapman
Tpr. Jeffrey Poach
Tpr. Michael Beauton
Tpr. Collin Konow
Tpr. Carson Konow
Sgt. Stephen Ostroski
TFC Scott Crevier
Dr. Richard Kamin

Major Crime Detectives (State Police, FBI and Newtown PD)

Lt. David DelVecchia
Lt. William Baldwin

Sgt. James Thomas

Sgt. Josh Pattberg

Sgt. Eric Dency

Sgt. Jeffrey Covello

Sgt. William Telford

Det. Karoline Keith

Det. Arthur Walkley

Det. Daniel Sliby        

Det. Michael Tranquillo

Det. Steven Rupsis

Det. Raymond Insalaco

Det. Rachael VanNess

Det. Daniel Jewiss

Det. Michael Mudry

Det. Alison Peters       

Det. Michael Downs

Det. Frank Mugavin

Det. Christopher Fongemie     

Det. Matthew Greenstein          

Det. Matthew Gunsalus             

Det. Patrick Meehan     

Det. Peter Farr

TFC Kenneth Dillon

TFC Anthony Cretella

TFC Joseph Russo

TFC James Foley

TFC Mark Pereira

FBI Special Agent Samuel Dispasquale

FBI Special Agent Lisa Skelly-Byrnes

FBI Special Agent Michael Zuk

Newtown Police Officer Jeffrey Silver

Sgt. John Turner

Sgt. Joseph Quilty

Sgt. Kevin Stratton

Det. Michael Fitzsimons         

Det. Richard Covello

Det. Peter Pinelli

Det. Marc Grandpre

Det. Thomas Kiely

Det. Christopher Allegro

Det. John Kimball

Det. William Flynn

Det. Joseph Bukowski

Det. Paul Lukienchuk

Det. Jeremy Combes

Det. Andre Roy

Det. Patrick Dwyer     

Det. Vincent Gogluicci               

Det. James Nolting      

Det. John McDonald      

Det. Shawn Sequeira               

Det. Kevin Slonski                       

Det. Scott Wisner

Det. Tanya Compagnone

Det. Matthew LaCluyze

Det. James McGlynn 

Det. Daniel Cargill

Det. Jeffrey Payette

Det. Priscilla Vining

Det. David Lamoureux

Det. Keith Hoyt

Det. Ryan Luther

Det. Brian Connolly

Det. Daniel DeJesus

 

Families Liaison Officers

M/Sgt. Kevin Mingo
Sgt. David Wagner
Weston Police Sgt. Patrick Daubert
Weston Police Sgt. Matthew Brodacki
Det. Brian Marino
Det. Janice Warkoski
TFC Jason Cassavecchia
TFC Gregory Trahan
TFC Robert Evangelista
TFC Catherine Taylor
TFC Edward Anuszewski Jr.
TFC Timothy Lehane Jr.
TFC Thomas Macholl
TFC Orlando Mo
TFC David Merriam
TFC Paul Macisco
TFC Dennis Keane
TFC Robert Maurice
Tpr. Adam McOmber
Tpr. Corey Clabby
Tpr. Scott Blair
Tpr. Dawn Taylor
Tpr. Sean Hickey
Tpr. Tamia Tucker
Tpr. Catherine Koeppel
Tpr. Gerard Joyal
Tpr. Joshua Sawyer
Tpr. Jessica Colburn
Tpr. Johnathan Kauffman
Tpr. Nicole Vallieres
Tpr. Edmund Vayan Jr.
Tpr. Michael Burke
Redding Police Officer Jason Heibeck
Shelton Police Officer Michael McPadden
Redding Police Officer Anthony Signore
TFC Walter Greene
TFC Dean Aresco

                                               

Peer Support Group (State Police and DESPP Civilians)

Sgt. Troy Anderson

Sgt. William Bundy

Sgt. Matthew Garcia

Sgt. Chris Ganzer

Sgt. Karen Gabianelli

Det. Daniel Crowley

Det. Kathleen Henry

Det. Adam Rosenberg

Rev. Dr. Paul Krampitz

Rev. Dana Hallenbeck

Rev. Edward Goetz

Fr. Michael Dolan

Dr. Mark Hall
Dr. Robin Grant-Hall

Phyllis Pavlik, LCSW

Dr. Anne Balboni

 

Law Enforcement Support Personnel (State Police Troopers & Dispatchers, FBI, paramedics)

M/Sgt. Kevin Rafferty OS

Sgt. Michael Roach

TFC Timothy Loomis

TFC Richard Binkowski

Sgt. Seth Mancini

Dispatcher Betsy Brennan

Dispatcher Mark Nadeau

Dispatcher Karen Laprade

Dispatcher Ryan Rigon

Dispatcher John Gebauer

Dispatcher Cynthia Dielemans

Lt. Sean Cox OS

Sgt. Dwight Washington

Sgt. Steven Zonghetti

Det. Richard Garcia

Det. Steven Bellandese

Det. Adam Brown

Det. Ian Nicholson

Det. Veronica Carpenter

Det. Gary Williams

Det. Andrea O'Donnell

Det. Gary Perry

Det. Daniel Rybacki

Det. Steven Orlowski

Det. Myles Ginley

Trooper Michael Prescott

Trooper William Ortiz

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kline

FBI Special Agent Thomas F. Veivia

FBI Special Agent Gary Sanford

FBI Special Agent Jon Lauria

FBI Special Agent Jeffery Kuroughlian

FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg

FBI Special Agent Mark Lauer

FBI Special Agent Ian Kaufmann

FBI Special Agent John Sullivan

FBI Victim Specialist Ashley Hall
Paramedic Bernie Meehan
Paramedic John Reed
Paramedic Matthew Cassavechia

Civilian and Law Enforcement Support (administrative support, CT Telecommunication System, civilian and sworn personnel from the six divisions of DESPP and municipal police)

Linda Rosa

Paul Zito

Scott Wright

Mike Varney

Warren Lundquist

Matt Valleau

Mark Mattson

Robert Boudreau

Christine Plourde

DEMHS Regional Coordinator Thomas Vannini

DEMHS Regional Coordinator John. B. Field, Jr.

DEMHS Regional Coordinator Robert F. Kenny

POST Training Officer Karen Boisvert

POST Training Officer Geoffrey Anderson

State Fire Administrator Jeffrey Morrissette

State Fire Plan Administrator William Higgins

Mill Plain Fire Chief Dennis Ring

Westport Assistant Chief Michael Kronick

Greenwich EMD Daniel Warzoha

Dr. Guy Vallaro, Director, Scientific Services
Deputy Director of Identification Robert O’Brien

Forensic Examiner Lucinda Lopes-Phelan

Forensic Examiner James Stephenson

Forensic Examiner Rachel Maloney

Forensic Examiner Joseph Weronik

Sgt. Richard Alexandre

Forensic Examiner Eric Carita

Forensic Examiner Kevin Parisi

Forensic Examiner Cheryl Civitello Carreiro

Forensic Examiner Liz Sautter

Forensic Examiner Nick Juliano

Forensic Examiner Paul Penders

Det. Bryan Ferrucci

Det. George Jupin

IT Analyst Joseph Ament

Admin. Asst. Sandra Baker

Attorney Brenda Bergeron

Det. Francis Budwitz

Det. Andrew Burke

Area Coordinator Michael Caplet

Trainer Robert Christ

Hartford Police Det. Steve Citta

Program Supervisor Dana Conover

GIS Coordinator Dan Czaja

Legislative Program Mgr. Scott Devico

Program Specialist Robert Drozynski

Program Specialist Gemma Fabris

DOC Lt. Julie Gasiorek

Lt. Arthur Goodale

Det. Michael Grieder

Emer. Telecomm. Mgr. John Gustafson

Emer. Mgmt. Director William Hackett

Urban S&R Coordinator William Higgins

Intelligence Officer Mark Housley

Det. Michael Kowal

Exec. Sec. Yvonne Lewis

Fairfield PD Det. Kevin McPadden

Waterford PD Patrol First Class Richard Morgan

Intelligence Analyst Brett Paradis

Intelligence Officer Peter Payson

Program Specialist Emily Pysh

Det. Matt Reilly

Trainer Thomas Romano

Sgt. Kenneth Rigney

IT Services Director Jason Rosa

Sgt. Luis Rosa

Trainer Gary Ruggiero

Trainer Robert Scata

Dep. Comm. William Shea

Program Supervisor Cynthia Tangney

Admin. Asst. Lee Toffey

Program Specialist Brian Toolan

Mgr. Operations, Exercise & Training John Warren

IT Analyst Marshall Weaver

 

State Police Command Staff

Col. Danny Stebbins
Lt. Colonel Robert Corona
Major Butch Hyatt
Major Brian McLean
Major Brian Meraviglia
Major William Podgorski
Capt. Dale Hourigan
Capt. Thomas Begert
Capt. Edwin Henion
Lt. Mark Cassista
Lt. Mark Sticca
Lt. J. Paul Vance
Lt. Michael Jagoda
Lt. Anthony Schirillo
Sgt. Robert Palmer
Sgt. Paul Hufcut
TFC Kelly Grant