In 2001, John Claflin and Dan Roman both walked through the Suffolk County Police Academy doors as new graduates. Last week, Lieutenant Claflin and Sergeant Roman took their final walk out of East Hampton Town Police Department headquarters. In between, the pair distinguished themselves as officers who "really got the job and really got the town," Chief Michael Sarlo said.
They both described retirement as bittersweet, cited their fathers' legacies as officers, and looked ahead to a new era. For Lieutenant Claflin, that will mean joining his wife, Jennifer, in running their family-owned business, Colours Construction. "She works harder than me," he said.
Which is saying a lot, since, Lieutenant Claflin's "contribution to our agency can't really be quantified," Chief Sarlo wrote in an email. "John invested a tremendous amount of personal time and energy into the advancement of training and professionalism for all of our officers."
Lieutenant Claflin admitted it had been the single thing he spent the most time doing over the years. "That's almost a full-time position, making sure officers are all up to standards for accreditation."
Between working the town's beaches and tennis courts in high school and college, to his time as an airport attendant, by the time Lieutenant Claflin joined the force he had already clocked 10 years in service to the town. In 2012, he made sergeant and in 2015 lieutenant. In 2019, he was appointed the precinct commander of the Montauk station, a position that his great-grandfather had inaugurated in 1986.
Since 2015, the former Springs Fire Department chief also served as commanding officer of the emergency services unit for Sag Harbor and East Hampton Villages.
He said he was most proud of spearheading the addition of a medical armored ambulance, "so if there was ever an active shooter incident, we could respond and be covered that way." It took a good amount of grant writing over the years, but in March last year with a $309,000 donation, the vehicle was delivered, reducing concern that help from Suffolk County would take an hour and a half to arrive were there ever a shooting.
Sergeant Roman looked back on his time starting out on the job with Lieutenant Claflin, who was appointed sergeant at the same time as him. Sergeant Roman thought he, too, would want to move up to a higher, more administrative role like lieutenant, but loved being out on the road as a sergeant. He said some of his favorite times were working the Montauk beat as partners with Austin J. McGuire, now the Sag Harbor Village police chief.
"Danny was one of the most well-liked and respected members, was a good boss and had an inherent understanding of community policing," Chief Sarlo wrote. "His recovery from an off-duty motorcycle accident in 2015 was truly remarkable and was inspiration for all of us."
A testament to his reputation, Sgt. Roman, in good humor, fielded questions regarding "action" as an active officer. Starting out, he said, it was "challenging when I had to arrest people that I knew and went to high school with."
He also shared that "there were a few exciting days on patrol, some car chases. Once a guy I was chasing ditched his car into Lake Montauk. He drove 70 miles per hour into the water. I'll never forget that 150 feet where he skimmed across the water and then it just sunk." He laughed. "He had large quantities of drugs that he thought he could dispose of by sinking the car."
As supervisor of the Police Department's dive team, he said that retrieving bodies of drown victims was an unfortunate part of the job. "You have to have a certain mindset about it. It's pitch dark in the water, so you have to do it by feel, which does take a little nerve."
He noted that working on evidence recovery from the Krupinski plane crash in 2018 was a significant career moment. A former lobsterman, the Montauk resident who grew up on the water looks forward to now having time to further his scuba diving and perhaps become an instructor.
He will also be spending more time with family, he said, remembering one year he had to work on his son's birthday and never made it to the party. "I really loved the job, but after 20 years, what you don't see, what's not depicted: You're almost always dealing with people when they're at their worst. You rarely get calls that are, 'Hey, I baked you this cake.' "
Sergeant Roman said it's possible that 20 years in police work feels like 30 years on any other job, a point Chief Sarlo corroborated, writing that "the 20-year career has become more and more the norm among most departments, as the tier one and two officers phase out, you won't see the 30-year-plus officer in smaller departments very often."
"Twenty years doing this job takes a toll on you emotionally and physically," Chief McGuire agreed. "I would say the national attitude towards policing has changed drastically and that may play a part in it." Sergeant Roman noted the added stress when "everything you do is scrutinized and videotaped, every interaction you have is recorded."
The two men will be hard to replace in spirit, but also quite literally. Because the county did not host any police academy classes during 2020, Chief Sarlo said the department was a bit behind the curve in replacement hiring. "Our staffing is taking a hit." He did not anticipate a wave of retirements, however.
Chief McGuire concurred with the "national shortage." The academy is 30 weeks long, plus about six weeks of field training post-academy before the officer goes on patrol by themselves, "so I think it will take some time to fix."
East Hampton Village Police Chief Michael Tracey mentioned the notable retirement of Captain Tony Long last month, but said there are no other upcoming retirements until mid-winter. The village plans on hiring at the start of the fiscal year in August to fill the gap, he said.
Chief McGuire noted "an exodus" after not having a retirement for three years. Four part-time police officers have left the Sag Harbor Police Department in the last five months to take full-time employment in other states, he said. "They are very important here because part-time officers cover scheduled absences like vacation and personal days." Remaining on the staff is one part-time officer, "who we may hire full time." Another officer is currently out indefinitely with a line of duty injury.
Asked whether he cried at the walk-out ceremony, Sergeant Roman thought for a moment. "You know I really was wondering how emotional I would be. And I definitely was right there."
