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Stephan Torquati at WNHH FM.
One story that has stuck with Stephan Torquati about his time as a cop didn’t spark headlines. It didn’t earn him a commendation. No one landed in the hospital. He didn’t make the arrest.
The story sticks with him because it shows how police do their job right. It shows why, as he retires after more than 20 years on New Haven’s force, he leaves with no regrets — and with pride in the profession.
Torquati, who’s 46 and lives in New Haven, told the story as he reflected on his career during an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
The incident occurred in one of his first years on the force. The son, grandson, and great-grandson of Marines, Torquati grew up in central New Jersey thinking about a career in public safety and law enforcement. He became a cop fresh out of Quinnipiac University, where he majored in political science.
Like other new cops, Torquati walked a beat, in his case in the Dwight-Kensington area.
One summer day, around dusk, he and his partner, Dan Sacco, were following up on a trespassing complaint on Day Street when gunfire erupted from a van passing by. The gunfire was directed at people walking on the street.
Torquati got a good look at the van. And the van driver saw Torquati taking a good look.
“They saw us, spun around,” and ended up driving the wrong way down Day, then George, to flee.
Torquati called in the details. Then the process worked the way it was supposed to: Officers kept an eye out and relayed the trajectory of the vehicle across town. The driver jumped out of the car in upper Westville; an officer was there to chase, and succeeded in catching him, as other officers came to help.
“Nobody got hurt, luckily. Everyone was professional. Everyone was cool. I can recall one of the officers asking where they were. They were using landmarks.” Officers recovered the guns.
“It was eye-opening,” Torquati recalled — both the “brazenness” of the gunfire and the way his colleagues swung into action after his call started the process.
It was, he said, “a split second, and men and women who were maybe sitting down having their lunch, instantly heard this, understood this was a dangerous situation. All responded effectively. The men and women who live in the Dwight-Chapel community could be proud of their officers.”
Police work doesn’t always unfold like that, Torquati observed. Though it often does, more than the public may realize.
Torquati said he tried to instill that sense of professionalism, teamwork, and community responsiveness in cops he supervised as he rose through the ranks, including returning to Dwight-Kensington as district manager. He continued doing that as shift commander (his favorite assignment) and as deputy patrol commander, his final assignment before he retired June 30.
Another night he’ll never forget: he was in charge of the patrol shift in 2019 when Capt. Anthony Duff was shot while attempting to intercede in a fatal shooting in the Dixwell neighborhood. “Young officers needed guidance” during a quickly evolving situation that night. Torquati worked hard to keep information flowing through the radio and to keep officers focused on the job at hand.
Torquati, who has enrolled in an MBA program at Auburn University with an eye toward a second career in business, spoke most of all about the people he got to work with on the force and in the community. “It’s rewarding,” he said of wearing the badge. “I loved every second of it.”
Click on he video to watch the full conversation with retired police Lt. Stephan Torquati on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”