Yesterday, the City of New Haven unveiled its new hazardous duty robot. The unveiling started off with a sad illustration of why this robot is so important. Police Chief Francisco Ortiz started off the news conference asking us all to offer up our prayers for Detective Sgt. Gene Heiney and Officer William Bergantino of Old Saybrook. They had been shot in the line of duty earlier in the afternoon. It was the first time in over twenty years that an officer in Old Saybrook had been involved with a shooting. Bergantino had been hit in the foot and the back and a bulletproof vest had saved his life.

Mayor DeStefano was on hand at the unveiling and talked about the importance of the new robot. He spoke about the importance of funding going directly to first responders and of the importance of regional cooperation. He didn’t comment about his dad.

His father was a New Haven police officer who worked hard so that his kids could have a better life. All of the kids got degrees through the state university system and now Mayor DeStefano is paying back his dad and all of Connecticut by helping protect those, like his dad, that protect us.

At the unveiling, Sgt. Craig Guglielmo, speaking about the new robot, repeated to anyone who would listen, "It’s going to save a life". I thought about how wonderful it would be if the money we spent on robots were in the schools and not for the police force. I thought about how wonderful it would be if the robot only ever needed to be used at unveilings like this. However, the shooting in Old Saybrook reminded me off how important it is to provide tools to protect those that protect us.

More information about the shooting can be found in Police officers shot in shootout with suspect and Officers, Suspect Shot In Old Saybrook. More information about the robot can be found at City's hazardous duty robot struts its stuff.