Police union names Westhill alum ‘Officer of the Year’

Officer Robert Somody has been patrolling the streets of his hometown for past 20 years, his entire career at the Stamford Police Department. During the evening tour Friday, the 43-year-old officer went from call to call to call, stopping for old friends along the way.

Stamford Police Officer Robert Somody works on his afternoon shift Friday on the East Side. (Kerry Sherck/For the Advocate)

A Westhill High School graduate, Somody saw a former classmate in the parking lot of a Shippan gas station. In Glenbrook, he stopped in front of a convenience store, and the owner came out to ask about Somody’s family. His superiors call him the “unofficial mayor” of Stamford.

This past week, the police officers’ union, the Stamford Police Association, named Somody the 2008 Officer of the Year for the experience and maturity he displays while working patrol, as well as his gregarious and personable nature. Somody is also head of the local Police Athletic League.

“Bob is someone the bosses can rely on to be a street supervisor,” Police union President Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said. “When he’s on the call you don’t need a boss there. He knows what to do and how to

do it.”

Somody began his tour Friday with a trip to Cummings Park, checking on a group of regular alcoholics he found passed out, often before 10 a.m. They seemed sober enough, so Somody let them be.

“On weekends, kids come down to the field,” he said. “Do they really want to see this?”

For the past six years, Somody has covered city’s eastern-most district, which stretches from Springdale to Shippan

and includes the East Side, a increasingly busy neighborhood for officers.It’s a melting pot full of several sets of immigrant groups such as Hispanics and the Polish. Friction often follows, and Somody and his fellow officers then are called upon to resolve the small-scale cultural clashes, he said.

He got his start in the West Side, though, patrolling the since-demolished Southwood Village housing project.

“I don’t miss climbing those eight stories,” Somody said.

He said he was first exposed to police work as a 10-year-old playing on a basketball team in the Police Athletic League. His coaches were a veteran Stamford police officer and Judge Richard Comerford, he recalled.

“I had two heavy hitters coaching me as 10-year-old,” he joked.

His supervisor, Sgt. Bill Hnatuk, graduated with Somody from police academy. He said working with Somody makes the high-stress job seem fun.

“I’ve been his supervisor for the last three years, but I learn from him every day,” Hnatuk said.

Somody will receive the award June 5 at the Stamford Police Association gala at the Holiday Inn on East Main Street. Chris Hansen, the NBC news reporter and Stamford resident, best known for the “To Catch a Predator” series, will be the keynote speaker.

Link

Advertisement