Windham County Sheriff's Department
~ Breaking News ~

By PAUL H. HEINTZ, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Reformer

O'Dell, who was officially confirmed by the Village Trustees last week, plans to begin working as soon as he can relocate to town, according to Sgt. John Dunfee, who has served as acting chief since January.

"He's a good guy. He comes with a strong background in management and policing," Dunfee said. "He's going to give the department the spark it needs."

O'Dell worked for 23 years at the Cornwall Police Department -- his last four as chief -- and retired in 2006. Cornwall is a Hudson River valley town of 12,000 and is five miles north of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

"I trust him with my life and my family. He's an outstanding person," said Sgt. Philip Sinagra of the Cornwall department, who worked with O'Dell for years. "I think there are many people like myself who will greatly miss him."

According to Sinagra, O'Dell is a subscriber to the "broken windows" philosophy of policing, believing that dealing with small problems can prevent larger ones from developing.

O'Dell may be able to put that philosophy to use in a department that has been plagued in recent months with issues ranging from budget struggles to State Police investigations to morale problems.

"He's got a few bumps in the road ahead of him as far as straightening out the department," said trustee Stefan Golec. "I think somebody of his caliber coming in with a fresh approach is something we need at this point in time."

Golec said he was most pleased to learn that O'Dell plans to be a "working chief," who will actively patrol the streets with his officers.

"I like the idea that he's going to be out on the street," he said. "I think purely from an operational standpoint, running a police department from a desk doesn't really work."

Having come from a department with 11 full-time and 11 part-time officers, O'Dell should be handle the much smaller Bellows Falls department, Golec said, and he is well informed of its problems.

"We knows what we're dealing with. He was fully briefed ahead of time. He's certainly up for the challenge," he said.

O'Dell could not be reached for comment Friday.

According to Sinagra, O'Dell was famous for asking job applicants what book they last read.

"He was the kind of guy who made you want to read," Sinagra said.

Dunfee, whose last day of work is this Thursday, recommended that O'Dell work closely with the community, acquaint himself with the inner workings of the department and "familiarize himself with the political atmosphere" of Bellows Falls.

"It's going to take a while for him to settle in and learn everything, but he's been a manager and a chief for a while, so none of it will be new to him."

Paul Heintz can be reached at pheintz@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 275.