Avon Police Captain Leaving to Become Avon Old Farms Math Teacher

Avon Police Capt. Robert Whitty will retire from the police force in June to become a teacher at Avon Old Farms School, where he went to high school.

Whitty’s last day is June 1, and he will officially start at Avon Old Farms on July 1 to teach freshmen and sophomores algebra and geometry. He will also join head coach John Bourgault in coaching the wrestling team.

“The opportunity came around and this is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Whitty, a 1987 Old Farms graduate, said Tuesday. “I hold Old Farms very high in my heart…. I didn’t go out looking for the job. That’s the place I’d want to be. I know it intimately.”

The resignation comes after a tense year in the Avon Police Department, including an incident on Oct. 2010 when Avon Police Chief Mark Rinaldo obtained Whitty's personnel file from the East Hartford Police Department. Town Manager Brandon Robertson reprimanded Rinaldo for the incident and identified low department morale as something to improve.

But Whitty said Tuesday that none of that contributed to his decision to leave. He said that town officials and Rinaldo have been supportive of him.

“The biggest thing is that it is something I have wanted to do. If this opportunity didn’t arise at this particular school, I might be here another 10 years. Everything kind of fell in line for me.” Whitty said. “In no way, shape or form did this past year affect my decision with anything. It seems things are getting on track and moving forward. It seems like everything is the right time for me.”

He is leaving after 13 years in the department, where he rose from a patrol officer to second in command. In 2001, he was promoted to patrol sergeant, in 2003 he became a detective sergeant and he was promoted to patrol lieutenant in July 2006, four months after being assigned as operations sergeant. In 2007 he was reassigned to operations lieutenant, the role that Lt. Kelly Walsh currently holds. He became captain in March 2010.

The new job will allow him to spend more time with his son, Jake, daughter, Ellie, and wife, Kim. His son has chosen to attend the all-boys private school next year and his wife has worked in admissions at Avon Old Farms for more than a year.

He said he still looks up to many of his high school teachers and mentors, many of whom are still working at Avon Old Farms, including Headmaster Kenneth H. LaRocque, Dean of Students Kevin Driscoll and Provost John Gardner.

“They’re still providing me guidance here and there when I need it,” Whitty said. “It’s a natural thing ... It’s the only place I’d really want to teach.”

He said that above all else they taught him right and wrong.

Now, Whitty said, he is excited to become a mentor to Old Farms students and continue to serve Avon, where he has lived for most of his life.  

“The nice thing about it is that I’m coming in with a lot of life experience to provide mentorship,” Whitty said. “So, you’re not only bringing yourself to teach the curriculum, but you’re also bringing life skills and being a mentor for the kids, not only in school, but also on the athletic field, being something bigger than yourself.”

Being part of the Old Farms' tight-knit community fostered his desire to help people, he said, which led him to the police force.

“I think that did, and knowing you’re doing the right thing and you’re accountable for your actions. It naturally led me to this career,” Whitty said, “which I would not have traded it for anything in the world.”

He entered the police force in 1993 as an officer in East Hartford after graduating from Bentley College with a degree in marketing and a minor in philosophy. In 2006, he graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA.

Whitty said he will miss the day-to-day interaction with his co-workers.

“I love police work. I love the people I work with,” Whitty said. “That was the biggest thing, leaving the people I’ve grown up with to some extent. We’ve all had kids while we’ve worked here. We’ve shared losses. We’ve been intimately involved in serious investigations, a couple homicide investigations. And with things like that you become very close with people.”

During his first year at the department in 1998, he investigated the murder of a 30-year-old Avon resident, Kyle Holden, in East Hartford. The perpetrators, Jamaal Coltherst and Carl Johnson, of East Hartford, were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

“That was the first major case I worked on in Avon,” Whitty said.

In 2003, he was the first sergeant to respond to the homicide of Avon resident William Larsen, who was killed by brothers Richard and Kenny Dean, of Oxford. Whitty got confessions out of the Dean brothers, who were also sentenced to 25 years to life.

In 2005, an American Crushing and Recycling truck driver lost control on Avon Mountain and caused a 20-vehicle accident that killed four people and injured several others. Whitty coordinated that investigation. He also ran the investigation for another Avon Mountain crash in 2007 in which a truck driver’s brakes failed and he crashed into Nassau’s Furniture on the opposite side of the state highway.

Whitty has served as an educator in the police force, whether overseeing field training for new hires or working with Avon schools for the D.A.R.E. program.

Whitty said he enjoys teaching, working with schools and “helping kids overcome challenges.” He has served as an Avon Little League board member and volunteer manager, Avon Youth Basketball League volunteer coach and Connecticut Special Olympics volunteer.

Rinaldo said Whitty will be missed.

“I’m very happy for him. It’s something he’s always wanted to do,” Rinaldo said. “He’s finally getting his life-long goal of becoming a teacher.”

The department has not found a replacement for him yet, and Whitty has prepared a list of tasks to delegate to staff in the meantime. He said the timing is good because a lot of his projects are coming to an end.

Most recently, Whitty oversaw the renovation of the , which reopened in late Feb. 2011. The next phase of the capital project is setting up a secondary dispatch center, which Whitty said is almost complete. The department is just waiting on the lighting installation.

Whitty met with Rinaldo in late April to discuss his decision to become a teacher and he submitted his letter of resignation on April 27.

“You’re torn in a decision like this. I’m making the best decision for family and myself,” Whitty said.