Public Safety Streamlined on Greenwich Avenue

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Officer Robert Smurlo is one of several GPD officers who patrol Greenwich Avenue on a bicycle. (John Ferris Robben photo)

By Richard Kaufman
Sentinel Reporter

As the look and feel on Greenwich Avenue is changing, so is public safety.

Due to the pandemic, in order to help businesses and restaurants, Greenwich Avenue has been reinvigorated in recent months — first with outdoor dining and the popular pedestrian mall on the lower portion, and now with the approved intersection and aesthetics enhancement project slated for Elm Street, which features bumpouts from the curb to increase pedestrian safety.

At the same time since June, the Greenwich Police Department has redeployed its officers on Greenwich Avenue in a more efficient and streamlined way. Plainclothes officers on foot still remain, but gone are stationary officers directing traffic at intersections for eight hours a day.

Instead, the GPD is now more mobile and visible than ever before with the use of bicycles.

“We wanted to enhance public safety on the Avenue while we’re promoting businesses and while we’re enhancing the aesthetics of the Avenue. We think it all goes hand in hand,” said First Selectman Fred Camillo, adding that there are more officers on the Avenue now than there has been in years past. “People can rest assured this area is super patrolled. This is another reason for people to not only shop and dine here, but also open a business here.”

GPD Chief, Jim Heavey, said the department had to address the increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic over the summer as the Avenue began to come alive again.

“Because you have so much activity spread out over the Avenue, to have the officer stand at the intersection [directing traffic] would not be efficient or effective. That’s when we had the joint conversation that this is really the way we should go,” he said. “Having an officer with an omnipresence was more important. We definitely have had an impact on the crime and on traffic. We’re constantly reevaluating it.”

First Selectman Fred Camillo, GPD Capt. Mark Zuccerella, and Chief Jim Heavey tour Greenwich Avenue recently. (John Ferris Robben photo)

The GPD uses four bicycles, and as many as three could be out patrolling the Avenue at any given time. They’re also used at Greenwich Point. In the event of snow, those officers will return to patrol cars.

“We have more contacts now than we’d have if we were in a car. We’re mobile, so we can respond to the things that cars can’t get to and areas cars can’t respond to,” said Police Officer Robert Smurlo. “We can be stealth.”

Capt. Mark Zuccerella said the merchants up and down the Avenue love the bicycles because it allows for more coverage in the area.

“We’re doing community outreach with the merchants from the top to the bottom of the Avenue,” Zuccerella said. “When traffic is backed up, the officers will stop and address it. From what I’m hearing from the merchants, they like that better. It’s more of an effective and efficient use of highly trained officers, rather than having them just be a traffic light.”

For Zuccerella, it’s about more than just traffic and crime control. It’s about community.

“The one thing we don’t like during COVID is we can’t interact with people like we used to. I used to go visit people and have coffee with them, and I can’t do that now. These guys have brought some of that back to the Avenue by being able to talk to people in a non-police related manner,” he said.

GPD Officers Nick Carl and Robert Smurlo. (John Ferris Robben photo)

Police Officer Nick Carl, who uses one of the bicycles, said he’s gotten nothing but positive reaction since being placed on the Avenue when the pedestrian mall went into effect over the summer.

“People love it. Everybody comes up to us and tells us they love the bikes,” he said. “We’re more approachable.”

The bicycle fleet is about to get an improvement, too. On Monday, the Representative Town Meeting approved a gift from an anonymous donor which consists of four, fully outfitted Interceptor Power Bicycles, and two trailers and hitch haulers.

The bicycles, the same kind used by the Secret Service and FBI, will have lights and sirens, and space to store more equipment.

“We’ll be able to respond more quickly to incidents on the Avenue,” Heavey said.

John Ferris Robben photo

Heavey encourages residents to say hello to the officers on the Avenue, because the community and police department work together.

“If you have some real positive experiences with an officer, you’ll have a positive Image of us and there’s better communication. It’s a partnership,” Heavey added. “We can’t be everywhere, so we have to work together to keep Greenwich a safe place to be.”

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