GRANBY — Surrounded by friends, family and fellow officers, Sgt. Kevin O’Grady became Lt. O’Grady Wednesday night.
More than 50 people filled the Granby Senior Center to watch O’Grady be sworn in as the department’s only lieutenant, filling a nearly 16-year vacancy. The position was briefly filled by now Chief Alan Wishart in an interim capacity for about two years before he was promoted to chief.
“He has the support of everybody here, including me,” Wishart said in advance of the evening ceremony.
Listing his qualities, Wishart included honesty, intelligence, fairness as well as trustworthiness. “That is about the best you can ask for,” Wishart said.
The large turnout included O’Grady’s wife and two daughters as well as his parents Kevin and Elvira O’Grady, of Springfield. The crowd, Wishart said to those gathered, spoke to the O’Grady’s quality.
Following the ceremony, Elvira said she was “very proud.”
“We’re very privileged to be here,” she said.
Elvira added that it was “quite an honor” to be surrounded by the rest of the family as well as the community.
“He’s worked very hard for it,” the lieutenant’s father said of his son’s promotion.
The newly promoted lieutenant said he was excited for his new role. “I look forward to helping the chief lead the department,” O’Grady said.
When asked why now was the time to fill the position, Wishart said before Wednesday’s ceremony that the department has always had a lot of administrative work that needs to be done.
“For a long time now, we’ve needed that position,” he said.
A lieutenant, Wishart said, also serves as a buffer between the chief and the patrol unit. The role also helps the town be better prepared in case something happens with the chief’s position, Wishart explained.
Among his commendations are awards for saving lives, arresting an armed arson suspect and identifying and arresting two suspects during a house-break in progress, according to Wishart.
“Another one, he actually found a car in the middle of a blizzard in 2000,” Wishart said. “You couldn’t even see the tracks.”
The car, Wishart explained, had gone down an embankment leaving no trace. O’Grady spotted the vehicle, was able to go down the embankment, break into the car and administer first-aid to someone unconscious in the vehicle.
“Even finding the vehicle itself was amazing, not to mention everything else,” Wishart said.
His personnel folder also includes thank you letters from town residents commending him on his work.
O’Grady began his career in law enforcement with the Granby Police Department in 1998 as a part-time officer. He previously served two years as an auxiliary officer before taking a paid position. He joined the force full-time in 2003 and was promoted to sergeant in 2008.
He holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State University.
“During his time as a (sergeant) Kevin has taken on a large number of administrative responsibilities,” according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. “This promotion was earned and certainly deserved.”
The Granby Police Department has more than a dozen full-time employees as well as 12 part-time officers.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.