Groton Town adds second outreach position at police department
Aug. 6—GROTON — Lurena Clarke happened to be a second-shift ride-along with Groton Town Police officers when they were dispatched to a larceny case.
What she discovered was a pregnant teen victim who was living at a hotel and had ordered food from Walmart. The food delivery never came and her money was gone.
Police investigated the larceny while Clarke, a community outreach specialist, assessed the situation and immediately recognized a woman in need. Using her connection with the Groton-based nonprofit Malta Inc., a $100 supermarket gift card was delivered the next day.
The incident represents what Groton Town Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro Jr. said it is the kind of follow-up work needed in a variety of police calls that officers simply can't always perform.
That work is now being tackled by two full-time civilian positions at the department. Police hired Clarke last April and, with support from the Town Council, added Maria Nott as the second community outreach specialist earlier this month. Both have experience in the nonprofit arena and don't carry guns or badges, making for a decidedly less threatening presence in situations where a helping hand and not an arrest is warranted.
Clarke is a former housing case manager for Alliance for Living and also worked for Advanced Behavioral Health Inc. and United Community & Family Services. Nott previously worked as a social services case worker for the Salvation Army and is founder of Back the Blue Southeastern Connecticut.
The two are now on hand to provide support for victims of domestic violence and connect resources for people who are homeless or with mental illness and addiction needs.
Clarke has been meeting regularly with those who provide services at the Naval Submarine Base and with different service providers throughout the town and city to provide vital connections.
Fusaro said the addition of the positions was an outgrowth of a need the department recognized but also a response to the state's police accountability act. The act, a response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, requires police departments to evaluate the benefits of adding social workers to the force. Fusaro sees the positions as an outgrowth of community policing efforts by the department.
While Nott and Clarke are not social workers, they are full-time department employees performing crucial follow-up work and connecting residents with resources to fit the need.
"It's filling a void for things you really don't need a police officer for," Fusaro said. "They really help us fill a gap and address the needs of the community, beyond traditional policing."
Clarke said she looks at call logs at the department regularly and can identify which cases needed follow-up work and which agencies might be best suited to fit the situation. She recently connected members of a family who had witnessed a fatal accident and helped to provide them with counseling.
Groton Town is among other police departments looking beyond the traditional roles of police officers. New London, for instance laid the groundwork in 2022 for a a peer navigator program that would provide three outreach individuals to perform similar follow-up work.
Fusaro said the department is looking at the feasibility of providing regular office hours for Nott and Clarke at the Groton Public Library. Anyone in need of assistance can contact the department at (860) 441-6712.
