As directors overseeing departments within the town of Hartford, we have the privilege of witnessing many herculean, behind-the-scenes efforts performed by staff members who go above and beyond their written responsibilities to provide a level of service to the community that often gets overlooked or underreported. With the departure of Hartford Police Chief Phillip Kasten, we felt compelled to release this statement of support and appreciation for the impact that he has had across the entire community, and across the entirety of town staff.
Having the opportunity for direct interaction with police department personnel, we have observed Chief Kasten demonstrate commendable leadership under extremely tense circumstances, time and time again: handling such incidents as individuals experiencing mental crises, opioid addiction and other life-threatening situations. Aided by their completion of the One Mind Pledge, the Hartford Police Department handles every one of these situations with a level of integrity and empathy that should make any Hartford citizen — anyone in the Upper Valley — proud.
Anyone who has a front-row seat witnessing the work that the members of this department perform on a daily basis knows a large reason for the success and good standing of our police within the community is due to Chief Kasten’s leadership.
As someone who declines personal credit and is quick to give all credit to others, his influence, through the policies he has implemented and his mentoring and leadership, has benefited not just his department, but all departments within the town.
Chief Kasten has served on the executive board of the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police. Throughout his membership, his expertise has been sought regarding model policy development across the state, and legislative input in areas of fair and impartial policing, domestic violence and use-of-force matters. He was one of the first police chiefs in the state to bring de-escalation training to all sworn department personnel.
As a member of the board of directors for Health Care & Rehabilitative Services, Chief Kasten was instrumental in developing the police social worker initiative.
He brought Crisis Intervention Team training to all sworn and civilian department personnel to aid in assisting citizens experiencing mental crisis.
He was resolute in his efforts, forging relationships and bringing about policy change to ensure that individuals in the throes of substance abuse were brought to area hospitals instead of being incarcerated.
Chief Kasten understands the importance of police interaction with youth in positive situations — youth-focused policing — to aid in building trust and forming long-lasting relationships between the police and the community. He was instrumental in the successful creation of a School Resource Partnership between the school district and the police department. Under this partnership, officers are assigned to one of all schools within the Hartford district, wherein a part of their patrol shift is spent mingling with students, sharing lunch or throwing a ball around. This has allowed access to police in a low-stress atmosphere, not unlike Chief Kasten’s own approach, and greatly strengthened relationships between police and youth in our community.
During Chief Kasten’s tenure, the department has made tremendous strides in a positive direction from which the town will benefit long after he moves on to the next chapter of his professional career.
He leaves behind a department operating at the highest level of professionalism and trending in a positive, upward direction. His legacy will be a strong, capable and caring department, ready to continue great work based on the foundation he has established, embodied in the philosophy and spirit of community policing.
Simultaneously, Chief Kasten takes leave of his fellow department directors, having exhibited a level of professionalism and a standard of service to the town that has impacted us greatly, and which we will strive to emulate as we continue our work for the community.
Dillon Walsh is the information technology director for the town of Hartford. This piece was also signed by Fire Chief Scott Cooney, Parks and Recreation Director Scott Hausler, Planning and Development Director Lori Hirshfield, Human Resources Director Paula Nulty, Town Clerk Lisa O’Neil, Finance Director Gail Ostrout, Assessor Jeremiah Sund and Public Works Director Hannah Tyler.