Contact Information Donald B. Anderson Chief of Police Phone: (203) 662-5310

A Message From The Chief of Police

Donald B. Anderson

Chief of Police - Darien, Connecticut Police Department

July 1, 2022

Across our nation, we continue to be besieged with incidents of violence, division in communities, and often rancorous political divides at all levels of government. We must all pause and remember that we are all Americans, guaranteed by the US Constitution to the Rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. No matter where we live, work, worship or congregate, we are all much more alike than different.            

The Darien, CT Police Department is a professional, accredited and highly trained organization made up of caring and engaged officers and support staff.  The following is the long standing mission statement of our agency.  These are not mere words and platitudes; the staff of this department strive diligently to always fulfill these values.   Our Department remains steadfast in our complete commitment to fair, balanced and reasonable law enforcement and public safety initiatives.  We stand for protecting the rights of all residents and visitors to the Town of Darien.

“The mission of the Darien Police Department is to work cooperatively with the public and within the framework of the Constitution to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear, and provide a safe environment in our neighborhoods. The Darien Police Department exists to serve the community by protecting life and property; by preventing crime; by enforcing the laws; and by maintaining order for all people. Central to our mission are the values which guide our work and decisions. These help us contribute to the high quality of life in Darien. The public trust and confidence given to those in the police service requires the adoption and compliance of stated values, which are the foundation upon which our policies, goals, and operations are built.

a. We value human life and dignity, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

b. We believe that integrity is the basis for community trust.

c. We respect the principles which are embodied in the Constitution of the United States.

d. We recognize the authority of federal, state, and local laws.

e. We strive for personal and professional excellence.

f. We are accountable to the people of the community and to each other.

g. We believe that cooperation with the community and the members of our organization will enable us to combine our diverse backgrounds, skills, and styles to achieve common goals beneficial to the community and the Darien Police Department.

h. We are most effective when we can identify and solve community problems.

i. We are dedicated, caring, and capable people who are performing important and satisfying work for the people of the Town of Darien.”

The recognition and statement of values by a police department is extremely important. These values are the foundation of everything for which we stand and believe in. The leadership of the Darien Police Department has the expectation that members of the Department will adhere to the highest ethical standards and provide honorable, consistent and lawful service to all residents and visitors to the Town of Darien. 

Our officers come from all walks of life and undergo a rigorous screening and background process. They are highly trained and educated; we hire quality officers who then are monitored and mentored closely throughout their career. We train our officers to a high standard in all aspects of professional public safety, but notably in Fair and Impartial Policing, Bias Free Policing and De-escalation techniques.  Our officers treat people, residents and visitors alike, with respect and dignity. I will not accept anything less and the public should not be expected to either. We here in Darien did not have any apprehension in meeting the operational and administrative tenants of the Connecticut Police Accountably Bill as we have always been well-trained and well-supervised with almost a hundred years of civilian oversight from the civilian appointed Darien Police Commission.        

The Darien Police Department has been a professional police agency for the almost 39 years that I have been employed here.  In that time, the department has operated professionally, lawfully, reasonably and honorably.  Do we always get it right?  No, we don’t.  Have we made errors?  Yes, we have.  But when we don’t get it right, we look to fix responsibility, address the problem forthrightly and quickly make it “as right” as possible.

More certain, here in 2022 than ever before, is a factual truth as I know it; training for police officers across our country varies greatly.  The training that officers get in Connecticut, both when they are hired and throughout their career, is exponentially better than in most other states.  If you are a certified police officer in good standing in the State of Connecticut, you can move to virtually any other state in the United States and obtain employment as a police officer.  Many police incidents with negative outcomes, where people are perhaps hurt or killed, do not happen here with the same frequency largely due to the standards for training.  Are we immune to it?  Certainly not.  Are we better trained and therefore in a better position to bring about a positive outcome?  Yes, we clearly are in my estimation and in the estimation of the majority of our public policy makers and elected officials.       

We think it is important to be proactively engaged with many community groups across our region well before we have an issue or problem.  We always look to be engaged and be part of the “solution.”  We will continue to strive to be better tomorrow than we were today, to be more responsive as the world evolves around us, and to always be open to reasonable dialogue and a spirit of mutual cooperation.

Despite the widely varying news stories and sometime negative focus on law enforcement officers nationwide, the United States has, without equivocation, thousands upon thousands of professional police officers who do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons.  For the vast majority, dedication to duty is not for fame or glory, but is simply the calling of a professional public servant.  Those officers operating outside of training, basic human decency and professional conduct are in the vast minority. We always strive to do our very best, and I am exceedingly proud of the service that the officers of the Darien Police Department provide to our community each and every day. 

Donald B. Anderson, Chief of Police