All good things must come to an end.

After 40 years in law enforcement it’s time to retire. I’m a dinosaur and it’s time for the younger officers to take over. I will be retiring from the EnCon Police effective January 31st and reentering civilian life.

I have truly enjoyed all the time that I have spent and invested on behalf of our agency and our officers interacting with all of you. This all started a little over 10 years ago when I saw a pickup truck in front of me with a sticker on the back window that said “ctfisherman.com”. Being a computer geek who happened to be a game warden it piqued my interest. When I saw the site I had to become a member. I remember when I first registered I used the screen name “DEP Law Enforcement”. Right after I registered I got an email from Mitch trying to find out if I was the real deal or just a wannabe using that name. When Mitch contacted me and found out who I really was he quickly figured out that my expertise might prove beneficial to members where you all would have an opportunity to post questions, comments, problems and issues related to fishing and hunting enforcement in Connecticut. That’s how the specific EnCon Police category on the forum started. After 3700+ posts by me I guess the idea worked. There were a number of other online hunting and fishing forums that caught wind of what we were doing and asked that I participate on their forums also. Some were good experiences, some not so much. Today I participate in CTF and CThuntingnshooting(dot)com and our interaction is a point of pride in our division’s public outreach program.

What started out with a window sticker has turned into a win for the EnCon Police and with a direct link to the agency a win for all of you. The amount of positive interaction that I’ve had with site members over the years has proven to be far greater than what I anticipated when I first joined. While I hope that I’ve had a positive impact here I know you’ve all had a positive impact on our agency. The amount of support that you have given us in the past and hopefully in the future is truly appreciated by all of our officers. Many of them monitor the site to keep up with what’s going on and I constantly get PMs and emails from members telling me about the positive interaction they’ve had with our officers on the water.

I have been fortunate to make a number of new friends and even met some new fishing buddies. There are more people to thank than I’ll ever remember but I wanted to specifically thank Mitch for starting the site. CTF is one of the best if not the best online fishing forum that I’ve found to date. I also want to thank in particular, Frank, Ron (Kapt), Brian (Trooper Bri), Chris Med, Blaine, Buck, RobertV, and BobG; you guys are the best. Frank, Ron and Brian got me back into ice fishing after a 30 year hiatus. Along with Elvis, aliens around Uranus and mountain lions we’ve had some fun. There are also many other members who I’ve gotten help and advice from, I apologize for not naming everyone but you know who you are. The good news is that now that I’m going to be retired I’ll be able to get out and go fishing rather than watching through binoculars.

While I may be riding off into the sunset, EnCon Police will still be here for you. I’m passing the keyboard to a younger generation to continue what we started 10 years ago. Sergeant Keith Williams will take over as “EnCon Police” starting around the middle of January. I figured I’d ease him into things while I was still around in case he has any questions or problems. Keith is an outstanding officer, he is one of the three Sergeants who work for me and is currently assigned to supervising Candlewood Lake and the Candlewood Lake Authority. In addition to those duties Keith is the Western District supervisor for our Boating Accident Reconstruction Unit and also our Hunting Related Shooting Investigation Unit. He is a member of the training cadre for the International Hunter Education Association “Hunting Related Shooting Academy”. In this capacity he travels all over the country teaching other game wardens, conservation officers and environmental police officers how to investigate and reconstruct hunting related shootings. Before joining our ranks Keith was a shellfish police officer on Cape Cod.

If you’re looking for me after February 1st you will still be able to contact me through CTF as "TeikasDad" will still be checking in. My wife and I may be living in Maine, we may be living in New Hampshire, we may be on the road traveling the country in a motor home, we haven’t decided yet. She’s put up with my career impacting our lives for the 36 years we've been married so I owe it to her to spend some quality time with and pay attention to her from now on. She’s looking forward to not having the phone ring at 2 or 3 in the morning with our dispatchers calling to tell me about some type of emergency or me running out in the middle of dinner or a family event to respond to a boating accident, search & rescue, shooting or other serious incident.

I’m going to miss the job and I’m going to miss the officers I work with, there are none better anywhere. But I leave knowing that because of the quality and high level of dedication that our officers have the state’s wildlife, natural resources and outdoor sports enthusiasts are being well served and protected by professionals.

Thank you all for your friendship, your cooperation, your concern and your efforts in preserving Connecticut’s fishing and hunting opportunities not only for yourselves but also for future generations.

Tight lines all!