Retiring Fairfield Chief On Race, Transparency & Tech In Policing

FAIRFIELD, CT — Since he began working full-time at the Fairfield Police Department in 1982, Chief Christopher Lyddy has gone by many names: patrolman, detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, deputy chief, and, as of two years ago, chief.

Starting Friday, he’ll add a new title to the list: Police department veteran.

In anticipation of his upcoming retirement, Lyddy took a few minutes to talk with Fairfield Patch Field Editor Anna Bybee-Schier and reflect on his career, the evolution of police work, and some of the most pressing issues facing law enforcement in 2021.

‘Implicit bias exists’

Americans spent the spring and summer of 2020 reckoning with the country’s legacy of institutional racism, specifically in law enforcement, after Minnesota man George Floyd died May 25 in policy custody.

Fairfield was no exception, as protesters gathered downtown repeatedly to rally against racism and seek police reform. For law enforcement in town, the work against racism was already underway, Lyddy said.

“The biggest change, and this happened really before the protests took place, was the realization that implicit bias exists in all of us and the only way to make effective change is come to that personal realization that you’re a product of your culture, your history, your upbringing,” he said.

“The only effective way to check it is to acknowledge it.”

In an effort to do just that, Fairfield officers stopped responding to calls for service that were made based solely on a person's ethnicity, according to Lyddy, who said the policy was the result of a community meeting where attendees reported being approached by police for something as innocuous as running down a street.

“I think we’ve come a long way,” Lyddy said. “It’ll always be a work in progress.”

Capitol crisis

Lyddy said he was disgusted by the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt at the U.S. Capitol, but in considering the Capitol Police response to the riot, he acknowledged he may be a bit more sympathetic than most regarding the federal law enforcement agency's actions.

“On any given day I would have thought that 500 on-duty personnel could handle a campus of that nature,” he said.

Lyddy commended Capitol Police for protecting elected leaders, but added the agency should have called for additional resources in a more timely manner.

Then and now

Having grown up in Fairfield, Lyddy remembers when the town was a quieter place, with less commerce and traffic than it has today.

“Back when I was a patrolman in the early '80s, the town was quite different,” he said.

Lyddy, 61, now a Monroe resident, also recalls writing police reports by hand, and considers developing a computerized dispatch system still in use by the department as one of his proudest accomplishments.

“Perhaps the biggest change has been the technology aspect of law enforcement,” he said.

Another major accomplishment? Seeing young people he worked with in the Police Explorer Program go on to have successful careers themselves, including at least one FBI agent.

“It’s been very touching for me,” he said.

When Lyddy discusses contemporary policing, he talks about people, and the importance of working for residents, and being transparent and inclusive of the community.

“I’ve had through my career so many wonderful personal interactions with community members,” Lyddy said. “I think those are the things I’m going to take away in retirement.”