Hail To The Chief

Police chief Al Fiore retired this month, after 33 years on the Westport force.

It all began with a newspaper ad.

In high school, some of his football coaches were police officers.   He enjoyed hearing about their work.  He went to college for a degree in criminal justice — then earned it after joining the Westport Police Department in 1978.

Fiore loved his job — and his adopted community.  He calls Westport “a great town, and a great place to work.”

Al Fiore

Before his appointment as chief, Fiore spent many years in the detective bureau.  He liked delving into cases — and bringing them to resolution.  Patrolmen, he notes, don’t always have the opportunity to follow cases through to the end.

As a detective he worked in nearly every area, from minor larcenies to homicides.  The big cases get the headlines, he says — but he always reminded himself that to the people involved, every case is important.

Fiore became chief of police on January 1, 2004.  The best part of the past 7 years?

“Without question, the men and women who worked with me,” he answers instantly.

“They’re wonderful people.  I just tried to give them the resources to do their job safely and effectively.”

He also liked the variety of police work.  “Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” he says, “something else happens that makes you shake your head in surprise.”

While he will miss his colleagues — and many other Westporters in Town Hall, on various boards and throughout the community — Fiore will see them often.  He’s staying here.

What won’t he miss?  Middle-of-the-night phone calls.

“It’s been 33 years, and I enjoyed every day of it,” Fiore says.  “I really did look forward to coming to work every day.  But I knew it was time to look ahead to other great things.”  Among them:  work in the private security sector.

“There are a lot of great people who can sit in the chief’s chair,” he says.

But we’ll certainly miss the man who most recently sat there.