Letter: Trooper Cipriano will be missed

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To the editor,
Goodbye Cip.

“From this day on … when I look back on the past … I will smile … and say to myself … I never thought I could do it … but I did … I over came all the people who tried to bring me down.” (Author unknown)

“You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” That should be the motto printed on the door of the Beacon Falls Resident State Trooper’s office.

Departing Beacon Falls Resident State Trooper Anthony Cipriano learned this first hand after being temporarily reassigned to road duty back at Troop I in Bethany immediately after a complaint was filed against him by two disgruntled town employees supervised by Trooper Cipriano back in October of 2011.

Trooper Cipriano is very people oriented and provides great customer service to the residents of the towns of Beacon Falls and Prospect. Prospect? Yes. Maybe not directly but due to the fact that Woodland Regional High School is located in Beacon Falls, Trooper Cipriano interacted with the students and families in Prospect as well. Wow. That is a lot for one resident state trooper. So let’s break it down.

Cipriano served the town of Beacon Falls with all aspects of police work; served the regional high school with police intervention and in addition coached track after duty hours; supervised town police personnel including a full-time clerk; articipated in Special Olympics and fundraisers — penguin plunges, Tip a Cop, Cop on the Top, charity basketball games; taught student drivers about the changes in licensing and laws about driving under the influence. He worked on presentations after hours to prepare for class; assisted in town recreational activities such as judging Christmas decoration contests year after year and created a tradition; became a Certified POST instructor to save the town money training Beacon Falls police officers in the use of tasers, firearms, and handcuffing; developed a plan and executed it to add a second floor to the Beacon Falls Resident Trooper’s Office; changed the style and visibility of the Beacon Falls police cruisers from plain blue to black and whites, added an additional SUV and Dodge Chargers to the mix; changed the Beacon Falls police uniforms and patches to integrate the town’s officers into the 21st century; replaced signage in front of the Resident Trooper’s Office; provided a place for local youths to perform community service and utilized the opportunity to the fullest.

And the list goes on. I am sure that I left something out. Trooper Cipriano did not gain anything materialistic from making these changes. In fact other than the personal satisfaction of making a difference, he got criticized for doing too much eyewash and public relations and not enough police supervision.

Anthony Cipriano has a good heart and gave this town his best. He always seemed to be under the gun for his unconventional ways of getting things done. I guess that made some people nervous. It will be sad to see Anthony Cipriano go. At the end of the day he was cleared of any wrong doings and the allegations against him were not substantial. He could have returned but knew things just would not be the same after having his spirits crushed by those whom he supported many times when he didn’t have to.

Anthony Cipriano definitely played his part in history here in Beacon Falls. “Keep the pictures they never change only the people in them do.” Lets bid him farewell and remember the great things he done.

William F. McCasland

Beacon Falls, retired police officer