Daley sworn in as acting Norwich police chief
Norwich — An informal retirement lunch for Police Chief Louis Fusaro on Friday morphed into a swearing-in ceremony for acting Police Chief Patrick Daley, who has served as deputy chief since March 2015.
City Manager John Salomone said that while the interim appointment is not a marquee event, it is nonetheless an important thing to celebrate.
“It's like a small wedding,” Salomone said of the dozen attendees in the chief's office conference room. “That's appropriate, because when you become chief, you're married to the department.”
Daley, 47, a 1986 Norwich Free Academy graduate and 1990 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, joined the Norwich Police Department in 1993.
He called departing Chief Fusaro his mentor and pledged to continue the openness of the department and its strong relations with the community.
Daley agreed with Salomone's marriage analogy and said he could not do the job with the required time commitment without the full support of his family.
His wife, Jennifer, and sons Sean, 14, and Patrick, 11, attended Friday's ceremony, along with his 87-year-old aunt, Kathleen Ring, and his cousin Jacqueline Ring.
Norwich NAACP President Jacqueline Owens, who helped establish strong ties between the city's minority community and the police department, welcomed the appointment.
Owens will retire from her position in December after 30 years and pledged that her successors, too, would continue to work with city police.
“I heard she's retiring, so I said, 'That's it!'” Fusaro said of Owens. He officially retires after Friday.
Daley already bears the title of chief in Norwich as chief of the East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Department.
Daley said Friday he will retain that position, but will turn over many of the duties to Deputy Fire Chief Keith Milton.
If Daley is named permanent city police chief, he said he would resign the East Great Plain position.
Salomone said he expects to make a decision shortly on whether to seek a formal search for a police chief or forego that process and name Daley to the position.
“I'm going to look at the lay of the land and look at the interim chief very closely to see if he becomes the chief,” Salomone said.
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