Norwich – Given state elections restrictions against the use of public funds, employee time or resources to promote a municipal referendum issue, city police have been silent on the Nov. 6 ballot question that will ask voters to approve a $2.7 million bond to replace the antiquated police radio system.

But the all-volunteer Norwich police Chaplains Corps felt the need to speak out in favor of the bond question. Corps members quickly formed the political campaign fundraising committee called, “Question 3 Committee.” Questions 1 and 2 on the ballot are statewide constitutional questions.

With local donations ranging from $10 to $500, the group quickly raised the $1,700 needed to create two billboards depicting a dramatic fictional police scene with the headline: “Saving Your Life and Theirs.” One officer is lying on the ground calling for help as two of her colleagues chase a suspect in the distance. All four “actors” on the scene are Norwich police officers who donated their off-duty time for the project, police Chaplain Gary Poorman said.

The billboards are located on Route 82-West Main Street next to Putnam Bank, visible to drivers entering downtown, and on Route 32-West Thames Street near the auto dealerships, visible to drivers heading toward Montville.

“They’re enacting something not too removed from reality,” Police Chaplain Charles Tyree, the campaign committee treasurer, said.

Tyree came up with the billboard slogan, saying it expresses the simple message that replacing the failing and unreliable radio system would benefit both public and police officers’ safety.

“Of course, they want to come home after their shifts,” he said. “You hear some harrowing stories of when the radios don’t work.”

Police Chief Patrick Daley presented the proposed bond plan to the City Council in August. The plan would replace the city police system, which dates to the 1940s, by partnering with the state on its communication infrastructure network throughout the region. Norwich would need some antenna upgrades and some new equipment that would work with radios in police cruisers and portable radios carried by officers in the field.

Partnering with the state reduced the cost to the city for a new police radio system from well over $10 million to the $2.7 million proposed in the referendum bond, city officials said. The projected high cost has led to repeated delays in addressing the radio system problem in the past. 

The city Finance Department calculated the projected property tax impact of the proposed 20-year, $2.7 million bond on a median-valued single-family Norwich home at $11 in fiscal year 2019-20, $14 in the next year and $13 each year for the following three years.

Tyree said he welcomed the referendum question after four years of frustration of trying to get city support to replace the radio system. During his first police cruiser ride-along as a police chaplain, Tyree heard firsthand what officers have been enduring for decades.

The scratchy, barely decipherable call came during the midnight shift describing a drug addict who had become violent “trying to kill people.” Tyree couldn’t make out the words, but the officer told Tyree “you get used to it.” The suspect was subdued using a Taser and didn’t harm anyone, Tyree said.

When all had calmed down, he said to the officer: “What can I do about it?”

He said he asked that question over and over for the next four years.

“Basically, the last four years, I’ve just been frustrated,” Tyree said.

The Norwich Police Chaplains’ Corps was formed in 2004 and currently consists of four ordained ministers from churches in the greater Norwich area. Tyree is from Norwich Alliance Church and Poorman is from Leffingwell Baptist Church in Bozrah. Adam Bowles is pastor at Peniel Church in Norwich and Lee Edwards is from the Bozrah Center Congregational Church.

Corps members attend 16 hours of basic training in issues such as stress, death notifications, privacy – their counseling conversations with police officers are confidential clergy communications. Corps members help debrief officers who have responded to horrific scenes or stressful situations.

The Chaplains’ Corps is done with its fundraising after concentrating its efforts to create the billboards.

But several smaller lawn signs have dotted the city landscape in recent weeks.

“Vote Yes Norwich Public Safety Radio System,” the black and white signs read, with a red checkmark in the upper left corner.

The four or five signs were ordered and paid for by a private individual, not an organized group, said Fran Houle, owner of Prokop Sign Co., on Boswell Avenue, which printed the signs. A message left for the buyer at Prokop Sign Co. was not returned to The Day.

Tyree said he also asked Prokop staff about the buyer and was told the person wanted to remain anonymous.

No visible campaign against the referendum question has come forward.

c.bessette@theday.com