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Record of Proceedings

Stamford Public Safety and Health Committee Meeting: SPD Overview (April 29, 2026)

Board of Representatives — Wednesday, April 29, 2026
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionBoard of Representatives
DateWednesday, April 29, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 49:34

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Okay, um hi everyone.

0:03

Um we're gonna get this meeting started.

0:07

Uh what is about 6:30 now.

0:10

Um the public safety and health committee meeting.

0:14

Uh we have one item on our agenda.

0:17

Um Christina, could you do a roll call of all the participants in the public safety meeting tonight?

0:32

Okay.

0:38

Hey, Vice Chair Adams.

0:41

President Representative Blank.

0:48

Present.

0:52

Um said Chair Busard will not be um attending.

1:00

Representative Didalo.

1:02

He's gonna join later.

1:04

Okay.

1:05

Present.

1:08

Representative Field Present.

1:13

Representative Gilbride.

1:15

I do not see her on yet.

1:19

Representative Graham.

1:23

I don't see her either yet.

1:26

Representative Morrison.

1:30

Either.

1:31

And Representative Walston.

1:36

Present.

1:40

And we also have with us Lou De Rubes and Chief Shaw.

1:48

Hello.

1:49

Okay.

1:50

Um I guess we would like to get a motion to take up item PS32.006, which is a review item.

2:03

Uh overview of Stanford Police Department.

2:07

Um I guess speaker would be Tim Shaw and Lou DeRupas.

2:13

Um, can I get a motion to take this item up?

2:16

So moved.

2:20

Good.

2:20

All right.

2:21

So we can take this item up.

2:22

Um Teve Shaw, I don't know.

2:25

Um Chief Shaw, I don't know if you want to uh go run with it or uh Lou DeRupus, either one.

2:33

Uh if unless uh Director Drubus has something to say.

2:39

No, Chief.

2:40

Uh I think uh they want to hear you tonight.

2:42

They've heard me several times, and if anything pops up that uh I think is falling through the cracks, I'll I'll chime in.

2:48

But I know you're more than competent.

2:50

So we'll figure it out.

2:52

Um Representative Adams, I did send a PowerPoint in, and I don't know if someone has access to that.

2:58

Uh who's on the call, and if not, I can just go through it and I can send you the PowerPoint afterwards.

3:04

Um Christina, do you have the PowerPoint that you can um pull up?

3:11

Um give me one second to double check, because as of the beginning of this meeting, I did not have it, but let me just uh I sent it to Barber yesterday.

3:22

Um that was what I was told to do, but if not, like I said, I could talk, I could talk myself through it.

3:28

It's not not a it's not a fancy PowerPoint by any stretch of the imagination.

3:35

Okay, um if you can please start with your presentation, and if I will pull it up for you.

3:43

No problem.

3:44

So um, first of all, thank you uh for giving me the opportunity to spend a few minutes with you and and give you an overview of the police department.

3:51

Before I go into the PD, I just for those who don't know me.

3:54

Um I've been with the police department since 1988.

3:57

Uh I came on as a patrolman, worked through the ranks.

4:00

I left uh Stanford as an assistant chief in 2015, and then I came back in 2020 as the chief.

4:08

So uh I'm in my seventh year as the chief of police here in Stanford, uh starting in April of 2020.

4:14

Um a lot has has happened since 2020 in policing.

4:19

And I think our department has uh has really kind of took the lead in a lot of initiatives uh with the community and uh within uh technology and things of that nature, which I'll touch as we go forward.

4:31

Um the most recent uh topic that I can talk about is personnel.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Transportation Safety████████████████████████25%
Procedural██████6%
Personnel Matters████4%
Mental Health Awareness████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure████4%
Youth Programs███3%
Active Transportation███3%
Community Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Stamford Public Safety and Health Committee Meeting: SPD Overview (April 29, 2026)

The Public Safety and Health Committee met on April 29, 2026, at 6:30 PM to receive an overview of the Stamford Police Department (SPD) from Chief Tim Shaw. The meeting included a presentation on personnel, resources, crime statistics, and a discussion of traffic safety and enforcement challenges. Committee members and the public safety director participated in Q&A.

Discussion Items

  • SPD Overview Presentation – Chief Shaw presented a detailed overview of the department. Personnel: The budgeted officer count is 292 (up from 287 after approval of 5 additional officers, originally requested 13). There are 16 recruits in academies, including 8 in SPD's regional academy. A $7,500 grant per officer for the first three years supports the new hires. Resources: Special Response Team (20-officer SWAT), bomb squad (regional asset), hostage negotiation team, K9 squad (8 dogs), behavioral health unit (first in CT with private social workers, reducing police response to mental health calls by ~30%), opiate response team, fusion center for real-time intelligence, drone first responder program, Project Hope (mental health alternative), and Police Activities League (PAL) at Chester Addison Center. Crime statistics: From 2021 to 2025, major crimes decreased except for assaults (7% increase). Burglaries dropped from 137 (2021) to 74 (2025). Comparisons with other large CT cities showed Stamford outperforming in reductions. Budget: 1.5% increase for FY2026, the lowest request in five years.
  • Traffic Safety and Enforcement – Representative David raised concerns about speeding and pedestrian safety on Strawberry Hill Avenue and Newfield Avenue, following a fatal accident on Colonial Road. Chief Shaw noted that a new traffic enforcement unit (doubled coverage from 40 to 80 hours per week) started in April. He also mentioned e-bike initiatives and collaboration with engineering for raised crosswalks. Representative David proposed an e-bike safety ordinance requiring vests/lights; Chief Shaw expressed support for safety measures. Representative Terry asked about school zone speed bumps and elevated crosswalks; Director DeRubeis confirmed that Washington Boulevard intersections are being considered for raised platforms. Discussion also included the need for education and coordination with the Board of Education on student lunchtime traffic.
  • Resource Allocation and Foot Patrol – Representative Matt questioned the balance between specialized units and patrol presence. Chief Shaw explained that many initiatives (fusion center, behavioral health, accreditation) reduced patrol strength, but the department seeks to add foot patrol and e-bikes when staffing permits. He offered to include committee members in future tours for the Board of Finance.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken; the meeting was informational.
  • Chief Shaw committed to sharing data on school zone speed cameras and traffic enforcement effectiveness with Representative Terry.
  • The committee discussed potential future ordinance regarding e-bike safety with Representative David.
  • The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, um hi everyone. Um we're gonna get this meeting started. Uh what is about 6:30 now. Um the public safety and health committee meeting. Uh we have one item on our agenda. Um Christina, could you do a roll call of all the participants in the public safety meeting tonight? Okay. Hey, Vice Chair Adams. President Representative Blank. Present. Um said Chair Busard will not be um attending. Representative Didalo. He's gonna join later. Okay. Present. Representative Field Present. Representative Gilbride. I do not see her on yet. Representative Graham. I don't see her either yet. Representative Morrison. Either. And Representative Walston. Present. And we also have with us Lou De Rubes and Chief Shaw. Hello. Okay. Um I guess we would like to get a motion to take up item PS32.006, which is a review item. Uh overview of Stanford Police Department. Um I guess speaker would be Tim Shaw and Lou DeRupas. Um, can I get a motion to take this item up? So moved. Good. All right. So we can take this item up. Um Teve Shaw, I don't know. Um Chief Shaw, I don't know if you want to uh go run with it or uh Lou DeRupus, either one. Uh if unless uh Director Drubus has something to say. No, Chief. Uh I think uh they want to hear you tonight. They've heard me several times, and if anything pops up that uh I think is falling through the cracks, I'll I'll chime in. But I know you're more than competent. So we'll figure it out. Um Representative Adams, I did send a PowerPoint in, and I don't know if someone has access to that. Uh who's on the call, and if not, I can just go through it and I can send you the PowerPoint afterwards. Um Christina, do you have the PowerPoint that you can um pull up? Um give me one second to double check, because as of the beginning of this meeting, I did not have it, but let me just uh I sent it to Barber yesterday. Um that was what I was told to do, but if not, like I said, I could talk, I could talk myself through it. It's not not a it's not a fancy PowerPoint by any stretch of the imagination. Okay, um if you can please start with your presentation, and if I will pull it up for you.

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