Police Officers Association of CT Elects Statewide Officers

The Police Officers Association of Connecticut (POACT) announces the election of the New Haven Police Union Elm City Local’s Florencio Cotto as President, Stamford Police Association’s Kris Engstrand as Vice President and Waterbury’s Brass City Local Detective John Healey as Secretary-Treasurer.

POACT has served as the advocacy arm of many of the state’s largest law enforcement unions since 2016. The organization is a unified voice for police and other law enforcement professionals across Connecticut, working to achieve meaningful legislation, and fight against measures that can impede the difficult and dangerous work of keeping Connecticut communities safe.

POACT President Officer Florencio Cotto said, “There has been a dramatic increase in the volume of regulation and legislation aimed at law enforcement, which impacts officers in our state. This board’s objective is to give a voice, in all corners of our state, to the rank-and-file police officers for whom we advocate and to the public and communities we are sworn to protect. In the coming session, we will be extremely focused on educating and advising legislative leaders on the issues before them that can result in either positive or negative impacts related to crime, recidivism and overall public safety.”

Vice President Kris Engstrand, a sergeant in the Stamford Police Department and its union president, said, “The defund the police movement in 2020 received a lot of sympathy in the public narrative and in legislatures nationwide. Simultaneously, cities and towns across Connecticut are experiencing rising levels of illegal guns, shootings, drugs, and violence that must be successfully addressed within the confines of laws and regulations our state legislators are solely responsible for determining. We enforce the rules they put in place.”

He continued, “Working together, in-tandem with faith-based, business and community leaders from across our state, our coalition of law enforcement leaders is confident in being able to educate and inform elected officials of what is required in 2021 to better protect and keep our hometowns safe.”

The group’s membership is comprised of individuals from law enforcement organizations across 21 different municipalities, including: Berlin, Bristol, Cheshire, Cromwell, Danbury, Greenwich, Hartford, Manchester, Milford, New Haven, Newtown, Naugatuck, South Windsor, Southington, Stamford, Waterbury, Watertown, West Hartford, as well as AFSCME’s Council 4 Public Safety Chapter.

The POACT board also includes law enforcement leaders from every corner of the state, including:

• John Flynn - Berlin Police Union
• Nick Lukiwsky – CT Alliance of City Police
• Jim Pelletier -Bristol Police Union
• Troy Raccuia - AFSCME Council 4
• Anthony Rinaldi - Hartford Police Union
• Steve Salerno - Southington Police Union
• Marshall Segar of Marshall Law LLC.

Secretary-Treasurer Detective John Healey added, “I am honored to represent my fellow officers from across the state and in Waterbury to advocate for sensible legislation that will keep the neighborhoods where we live and work safer.”