Gove Promoted to Captain of WHPD Patrol Division

Lt. Tracey Gove's investigations are not limited to the streets. He is a frequent contributor to law enforcement journals. In 2008, he delved into micromanagement issues in the criminal justice field in a seven-page story for Police Chief magazine.

Now he can really put theory into practice.

Gove, the lead detective in West Hartford's special investigations division, was promoted Tuesday to captain, Chief James Strillacci said. He will head the patrol division, which is losing to retirement.

Gove is taking over for retiring Capt. John Casey. Assistant Chief Carl Rosensweig, who commanded the patrol since 2001, is also retiring and will become Oct. 3.

Strillacci also said Det. James McKeown is retiring after 23 years, and made three other personnel moves:

• Sgt. Roger Brancoforte, an 11-year West Hartford police veteran and a former Marine, will be promoted to lieutenant.
• Officer Brett Balisciano, who joined the force in 2000 and has worked in the SID and community interaction team, was made sergeant.
• Officer Brian Hill, who came to West Hartford in 1997 after two years as a corrections officer in Massachusetts, will be promoted to detective.

Brancoforte, a member of the honor guard, and Balisciano, who was the Exchange Club’s police officer of the year in 2009, will be assigned to the patrol division, Strillacci said.

Gove also was named police officer of the year in 1999. He joined the Connecticut State Police in 1999 but returned to West Hartford 19 months later.

Gove started out in the traffic and patrol divisions, Strillacci said. He graduated from Westfield State and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Hartford. He has also taken police work into the classroom as a part-time community college teacher.

The captain’s examination was held last week. Last week Strillacci said he was waiting for a go-ahead from Town Manager Ron Van Winkle to fill Rosensweig’s command.

Rosensweig, who was confirmed by Granby officials last week, and Casey were each former detectives and SWAT team supervisors with a combined 61 years of police work.

Casey led the patrol division – about two-thirds of West Hartford's sworn-force of 120-plus – since his promotion to captain in 2005. He also led the community relations division for four years, supervised CIT and was the field training officer. He was police officer of the year in 1988 and was honored by the Park Road Association in 1998.

McKeown, a member of CIT who was promoted to detective in 2005, is moving to the Plymouth Police Department.

McKeown earned a Merit Award for disarming a suicidal woman with a knife in 1996 and was police officer of the year in 2005. In March, McKeown gained a unit citation for helping to  at a home on Trout Brook Drive.

A ceremony for the officers will be held Friday at police headquarters.