The Easton Police Department's Losing Its Mom

Years ago, five men broke into a family's house in Easton when its 12-year-old daughter was home alone. The frightened girl called 911 and dispatcher Diane Barriga took the call.

"I asked her if there was a place she could hide and she hid under the kitchen table," Barriga recalled. "She asked if she should run at them with a knife and I told her to stay put. I just tried to keep her talking."

Barriga asked the girl to give her any details she could get. "She gave brand names of their shoes," Barriga marveled.

Chief James Candee, who was standing next to Barriga's desk at the police station, said, "We got them in the driveway. Got 'em in the act."

Of the girl, Barriga said, "She grew up to be dispatch supervisor at the Norwalk Police Department."

Barriga, 64, of Shelton has seen a lot in a career spanning over 25 years. She started out as a part-time dispatcher in 1985 and later went on to be full time. Then in 1999 she was promoted to administrative assistant to then-chief John Solomon. On Friday, Dec. 6, the department will say goodbye to Barriga during an informal luncheon celebrating her retirement.  

"I'm gonna miss the people," Barriga said Wednesday. "I'm not gonna miss my 5 o'clock alarm. And my husband and I like to travel." 

Barriga and Raul, her husband of 19 years, have four grown children and six grandchildren.

Two of their children have birthdays in December, so Barriga said the family will go to New York City for dinner and a show to celebrate their birthdays and her retirement.

"My husband lives in Ecuador, so instead of visiting his family for two or three weeks, we're gonna go for three months," she said of other future plans.

Everybody's Mom

A police chief's administrative assistant posts time sheets and does payroll, handles invoices, helps out during budget season and handles special duty billing for officers doing road jobs, according to Barriga.

"My secondary thing is being everybody's mom," Barriga said. "Chief Solomon used to say, 'She's my 1-A, she's my disciplinarian.'" In Solomon's light-hearted joking, "A" stood for administrator.

During her time with the Easton Police Department — Barriga had moved to Massachusetts for a short period in between — Easton had three chiefs, Gerard Hance, Solomon and now Candee.

Barriga was promoted to administrative assistant when Sally Keller retired in 1999.

"I'm happy that she has the opportunity to retire," Candee said. "I've known her the whole time she's been here. She's done a great job."

Barriga served as Candee's administrative assistant for the past two years.

"You don't come into this job knowing everything," Candee said. "She knows the administrative part. She spent a lot of time teaching me the finer points of the budget. She's very detail oriented."

Candee said Barriga "gets along with all the guys like family."

"If someone's late putting in their time sheet or a vacation request, she gets after them instead of saying, 'It's their responsibility,'" Candee said. "We'll miss her."

Barriga will be replaced by Diane Zadrozny, who currently works upstairs at the front desk of Easton Town Hall. 

A Who's Who

"The thing I liked about being in here was I started with Chief Solomon and he knows so many people," Barriga said. "It was an adventure, because you never knew who you would be speaking to or who was gonna come in."

Among Solomon's friends are famous forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee and Dr. Gus Karazulas, who was the first forensics expert to get a conviction based on teeth patterns. Barriga said she also got to meet high powered attorneys.

In her field, Barriga made friendships as a member of the Chiefs of Police Secretary Association. In fact, she said one fellow member helped to train her when she was promoted to her position in 1999.

"Last year, several members went to a police department, so their staff could attend the funeral of one of its officers," Barriga said. "That's the way it should be. You should help one another." 

Small Town Policing

Diane Barriga first broke in at the Easton Police Department as a part-time dispatcher in 1985, after previously working for a phone company.

"I liked it," she said of dispatching. "It's kind of like a service job — a little more exciting than being a service rep for a phone company."

A dispatcher must remain calm while talking people through stressful emergency situations. "You have to be in control of the situation or they don't feel they're getting any help," Barriga said. "When it passes, then you can fall apart."

In her first year of dispatching Barriga handled calls during Hurricane Gloria, in addition to calls for serious medical emergencies, burglaries and other crimes. But early on, she also had the routine calls reminding her that Easton is a small New England town.

"One of my first calls was a herd of pigs roaming," Barriga said with a chuckle. "And I was flabbergasted."