Westport, Meet Your K9 Protectors
To Protect & Serve:
From left to right: Corporal David Scinto with his partner, K9 Atlas. Corporal Kevin Smith and partner K9 Onyx and Corporal Jim Loomer with his partner, K9 Brutte.
Earlier this week the Westport PD K9 division hosted a media day inviting local press to meet and greet the members of the division and to promote awareness of this invaluable program which not only serves Westport, but often is called upon to support other area law enforcement agencies in assisting investigations and to aid in tracking and apprehension of alleged criminal suspects. The event was held as part of the efforts of the department to raise funds for the operation and improvements of the K9 division, which is solely reliant upon the public for all expenses of operation. The link to the department’s GoFundMe page can be found below.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
As part of the event officers posed for photos with their K9s and held a question and answer session with local media. Corporal Jim Loomer invited the press into PD headquarters and showed a wall dedicated to the history of Westport’s very successful K9 program. Photos of past officers and their partners included an early officer name Foti Koskinas, who is pictured with his K9 partner, Lola and who as we all know is now Wesport’s Chief Of Police. At right, Corporal Scinto is interviewed by Channel 12 News. A link to their story can be found below.
L to R: Corporal Smith & K9 Onyx, Corporal Scinto & K9 Atlas, K9 Onyx, K9 Onyx getting up close and personal with Smith and Corporal Loomer & K9 Brutte.
Some of the many achievements of these skilled K9’s include Corporal Scinto and Atlas who secured the apprehension of a robbery suspect in Bridgeport for which they received the Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 award. In November of 2021, while assigned as a Task Force Officer in the Auto Theft Task Force in the City of Bridgeport, Officer Scinto and other Task Force Officers engaged with several armed suspects during a robbery investigation. Upon being confronted one of the suspects engaged Officers in a foot pursuit all while having a loaded Handgun in his right hand despite by tased, after several attempts, Officers were relentless in their pursuit and with the assistance of K9 Atlas the suspect was able to be taken into custody safely without harm to Officers or the Community. K9 Atlas may have been instrumental in saving the life of his partner Scinto, or other officers who were on scene.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Corporal Jim Loomer is a 14 year veteran with Westport PD and his partner K9 Brutte is a Belgian Malinois a breed know for being smart, confident, and versatile and a world-class worker who forges an unbreakable bond with his human partner. It is said that to deny a Malinois activity and the pleasure of your company is to deprive him of his very reasons for being, which is partly why they are popular with many police departments. Corporal Smith has been with WPD for 24 years and Corporal Scinto has served for 11 years. His partner K9 Atlas is a German Shepherd who has served for 9 years and will be retiring at the end of this year. These K9 partners are trained in patrol work and narcotics detection. Loomer also has a second K9 named Ambo whose specialty is explosive detection. Corporal Loomer can be called upon to do a sweep of a school, synagogue or to check an a suspicious unattended bag in a building or public location such as a train station.
These dogs have been described as locating tools and they rely on their exceptional sense of smell for tracking criminal suspects or missing elderly persons or children. Scientists report that a dog's sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a human's. One of the reasons a dog has a much better sense of smell than we do has to do with the number of scent receptors: For every scent receptor a human has, a dog has about 50.
Corporal Smith is often called upon to assist local PD’s with car theft investigations. Stolen cars often crash or are abandoned and Onyx can often track suspects who were in the vehicle, when they are on shift and other PD’s don’t have a dog available during that shift. Some area PD’s have only a single K9.
The Westport Police K9 Unit has launched a Go Fund Me page for the purpose of fundraising for expenses associated with the unit’s operations.
The goal is to raise $58,000. which is needed for the purchase and for training of a new K9 who will be replacing Atlas who will be in 2024 after his 9 year career with the unit. Additionally, funds are needed to outfit K9 patrol vehicles which have multiple special features that standard vehicles do not have, such as remote “door pop” mechanisms which the officer can trigger that can open the vehicles door to allow the K9 to spring into action if needed. Heat sensors can also automatically roll down windows if the car’s engine should fail cutting the AC needed to keep the K9 safe and which sends an alert to the officer’s phone. K9 vehicles also have much greater wear and tear leading to more repairs and maintanence, and Scinto stated that his vehicles has over 9,000 idle hours.The unit is on it’s way with more than $42,000 raised so far. The kevlar vests worn by the K9’s cost about $1,000 and are level 3 ballistic vests which can protect against gunshot rounds, stabbing and slashing. All of the department’s K9’s have these vests, the most recent one purchased with funds from a single anonymous donor. Corporal Scinto told WestportLocal that the K9 vests are even better that their vests, joking that if he needed a better vest, he might borrow his dogs. These protective measures are essential as the dogs routinely face the same threats as the officers. A recent incident recounted by Scinto described a pursuit following a car-jacking out of Waterbury where the officers were on scene after the vehicle crashed. Scinto deployed Atlas to apprehend the male driver who was armed, and while attempting to take the female into custody Scinto observed the male suspect kicking Atlas, which didn’t go well for the suspect, given the German Shepherd’s bite force ranging between 175 and 238 pounds per square inch (PSI). Atlas did receive an injury requiring medical attention when the pair, while in their patrol vehicle, were rammed by a stolen car which caused poor Atlas to be launched from the back seat almost into Scinto’s lap causing him to hit his head on the rifle rack, resulting in a good-sized laceration on his head which required a vet’s application of medial “super glue”. After a couple of days recovery, Atlas was back on the job!
Please visit Westport Police K-9 Unit Fundraiser for additional information.
Another of Atlas’ career highlights was assisting a a federal agency by finding 14 KILOS of fentanyl which could have been responsible for an untold number of deaths had the most dangerous drug of our times reached the street. In yet another incident, Atlas helped track a bank robbery suspect who fled to a nearby golf course and attempted to evade capture by hiding in a garbage can. He was not successful thanks to Atlas. The bond between the officer and his K9 is a very tight one, with the two spending many hours a day together. Corporal Scinto described it this way, "He's a family member. I joke I spend more time with my dog than anybody else on this planet. Whether he's in the car or at home, we're a foot away from each other almost 24 hours a day," said Scinto.
Above left, Corporal Loomer shows his second K9, Ambo, a Labrador Retriever, and right Corporal Smith demonstrates the tremendous agility and energy of his Belgian Malinois, Onyx.
To view the News12 segment on this event, visit NEWS12.com
Wreckers Hopes For FCIAC Playoff Berth Dashed In Danbury
The Staples girls basketball team was hoping for a win last night against the Hatters of Danbury which would earn them a spot in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference post season tourney, but despite leaving it all on the court for 32 minutes, it was not to be.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
In a game which was exceptionally physical, with one tie-up after another becoming fierce battles for possession, and body contact which must have left both teams bruised today, the Wreckers were in it until the final five minutes.
The Wreckers came out strong, scoring two quick buckets in the first two minutes, but Danbury fought back tying the game 8-8 midway through the period. Staples held a one point advantage at the end of the first quarter thanks in part to sophomore stand-out Sarah Von Dohlen who posted 8 of her game-high 22 points.
The second quarter saw the lead change several times with Staples overcoming a five point deficit to go into the locker room leading 32-25 behind buckets by sophomore Freya Harvey, 3-pointers by Von Dohlen and sophomore Emma Asiel, junior Ella Harrington who was second leading scorer with 11 points total and who plays alongside her twin sister Poppy.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
The Wreckers expanded their lead to ten points early in the third period, however things went downhill from there with Danbury closing to within one at the end of the period. Staples had no answer for 5’11” Danbury center Lily Bevington who was able to score from the post and with a couple of quick scores the Hatters took the lead, 43-40 and then expanded the lead to eight. With 1:30 left to play, Danbury was firmly in control, leading 56-48, with Von Dohlen draining a trey in the final minute, the Wreckers fell to Danbury by the final score of 58-55. Adding to the Wreckers scoring were sophomore Sadie Katzner who finished with six points, Asiel with seven, junior Sophia Martin adding three and Marley Belzer who finished with two.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Music Fans Add Cool Jazz Concert At Westport Library To Their Super Bowl Sunday Activities
More than 130 music lovers came to the Trefz Forum at the Westport Library to enjoy a special performance by internationally know recording artist Sherry Winston and her very talented band on Super Bowl Sunday. The appreciative crowd were wowed by the musicianship of this seasoned band and the one hour plus show concluded with a standing ovation.
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Ms. Winston told WestportLocalPress, “I was so happy to be asked to perform at the Westport Library on Super Bowl Sunday. I knew nothing about the library in advance and was so pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the structure, the professionalism of the staff, the magnificence of the sound system, Sound Engineer and Videographer. I was doubly surprised by the number of people who came out to see me on a day which was the most televised sports show in the U.S. The audience was very supportive and attentive to me and my band and made performing for them a total joy. Kudos to Jennifer Keller, Program Director, Travis, Sound Engineer and David,Videographer. They all did a magnificent job and made us comfortable and very happy with the quality of the sound & video.”
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Sherry told several stories during the show from her years in the music industry. One such anecdote was how her flute career began, which was pretty much by accident, or perhaps destiny. When in junior high school in Queens, Sherry wanted to join the music program and when the list of applicants was called alphabetically to choose their instrument to study, the petite Ms. Winston was left with two choices, flute or tuba. The choice was pretty clear.
One of Ms. Winston’s fondest memories was a performance where the great Stevie Wonder was in the audience. The story goes: Several years ago I had the opportunity to play a tribute concert for the late Hal Jackson who was the first Black DJ in the U.S. and a 50 year presence on WBLS radio in NYC !! Hal's wife Debi Jackson was giving a 96th birthday party for him in Lower Manhattan and asked me if I would come and do a tribute to Hal. Of course I considered it an honor to be asked to perform along with some of the biggest names in R&B music like Melba Moore. I was the only Jazz artist asked to participate.
Debi told me that she was also asking Stevie Wonder to come and honor Hal, since Hal had been instrumental in Stevie’s career when he was first starting out as “Little Stevie Wonder.” Hal gave him much needed air time on WBLS and promoted his first LP. Debi Had me rehearse a song that Stevie wrote called “Pastime Paradise,” with a band that she put together for Hal’s party. I had recorded “Pastime Paradise,” on my 4th CD and was excited about the possibility of performing the song for Stevie.
When Stevie came to the venue Debi asked me to start playing the song with the band. When Stevie heard his song being played he immediately followed the sound and pulled out his Harmonica and began to play with me. We were joined by the Icon Valerie Simpson on Piano who performed & wrote many hit songs as part of the Duo Ashford & Simpson. It was truly a night to remember and will always hold a special place in my heart.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Joining Sherry in her band were Richard Cummings on Keyboards, who attended Julliard and has performed with Harry Belafonte, conductor Zubin Mehta, internationally known Hugh Masekela, Wayne Shorter, renowned singer Dianne Reeves.
Also, Grammy winning drummer Joe Ham who has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Gloria Gaynor, Sam & Dave, The Platters, Little Anthony & the Imperials, the Marvellettes, and Tom Browne. In addition, Clarke has performed for TV shows The Cosby Show, A Different World, and Living Single. His Grammy was awarded for the Deniece Williams album This is my Song.
Steve Clarke playing electric bass has performed with Marion Meadows, Estaban, Tom Browne, Victor Fields, The Five Satins, Ben E. King, The Drifters, Coasters, and Sam & Dave. He has released seven albums under his own name, with his latest featuring Mike Stern, and has performed on more than 55 albums with other artists.
This exceptional concert can be enjoyed on the Westport Library YouTube channel: The Sherry Winston Band at The Westport Library
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
At the conclusion of the show, Sherry did a meet & greet, signing copies of her CD’s and her book- For Lovers Only: “A Cookbook and More,” a how-to book on entertaining from the moment your guests enter your home until the second they leave. Her book, which was created over several years includes recipes for delicious, easily prepared dishes, recommendations for great music, good wine and beautiful flowers. Author/musician Sherry Winston helps everyone create the perfect ambience for a fun evening or special occasion.
As a bonus Sherry has included her mellow CD, "For Lovers Only, "which is perfect musically for any time night or day as part of this great package.
To learn more about Sherry’s music and her cookbook, visit: sherrywinston.com
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
CT DOT Amends Transportation Improvement Plan To Include Funding For Cribari Bridge Project
The South Western Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (SWRMPO) announced that it has placed an amendment to the FFY 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), as requested by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT DOT), for the right of way and final design phase for the rehabilitation/replacement of the State-owned Bridge No. 01349, a/k/a William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge. The TIP is a dynamic list of all highway and public transit projects proposed to be undertaken utilizing Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration funding during federal fiscal years 2021-2024 within Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton.
See Town Website For Details: Cribari Bridge Project Update