Connecticut
Kenzo is ready for duty in the Hartford HealthCare system. But these dogs are a little different.
Kenzo the 2-year-old German Shepherd knows when it’s time to clock in to his shift as a security K-9 at Hartford Hospital. His demeanor changes from a lap dog snuggling on the couch with his handler’s 6-year-old twins to an energetic, alert watchdog ready to patrol the campus.
Now, Kenzo’s work routine will involve slipping his big paws — which he’s still growing into — through a new, custom-fitted bulletproof vest that he will wear on the job to ensure his safety while working the security detail.
Kenzo is one of six dogs working security in the Hartford HealthCare system. It is the only hospital system in the state to employ K-9s.
Kenzo’s new vest is not only bulletproof but is buoyant, features a back ring to rig things like cameras, has an underbelly impairment protection to protect a K-9’s most vulnerable spot if they charge someone who is armed.
The vest, customized to Kenzo with 27 different specific measurements, was donated by Peter and Suzanne Rappoccio, owners of Southington-based Sign Pro, which designed the interior and exterior signage at Hartford HealthCare’s building at 100 Pearl St.
Rappoccio said he and his wife had been at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building when they met Kenzo. They asked if he had a bulletproof vest, and when they heard he didn’t, they decided to donate the $8,000 vest.
The Rappoccios also surprised Hartford HealthCare by announcing that they’ll be donating a second vest for another dog.
Kenzo’s vest was presented to the pup at a ceremony in Hartford last week. Though he was a bit hesitant to put it on at first, Kenzo seemed comfortable wearing the four-pound vest. His training with the vest would start Thursday night, his handler Kyle Lariviere said.
Kenzo and Lariviere work the night shift at the Hartford Hospital campus, patrolling the buildings and surrounding city streets, responding to any incidents to protect security officers, patients, staff and visitors, and acting as a de-escalation tool when patients or visitors show signs of aggression.
The pair walk the grounds of the hospital throughout the night, always taking a different route to keep Kenzo on his toes — or paws — and Lariviere said they never know what they’re going to run into or what type of situation they’ll encounter when they enter a patient’s room. And they have to be ready for anything.
“We’re there to observe and watch, but we’re there to protect officers if we need to,” said Lariviere, who said their main objective is to keep staff, patients, visitors and other security staff safe.
Kenzo lives with Lariviere and his family, so the two are together round the clock. Lariviere wears a bulletproof vest each shift and said he’s happy that his four-legged partner will now have the same level of security
“It definitely makes me feel better knowing that when I go to work every night he’s going to be safe and protected,” said Lariviere, looking down at Kenzo on Thursday.
Keith Grant, head of operations for Hartford Hospital, said that having K-9s on campus helps make many tense or emotional situations calmer, happier and more healing.
“We are committed to looking at security in many different ways,” said Grant. But when it comes to the K-9 program, Grant said their security role is secondary to the therapeutic element they offer.
“The dogs add a level of therapy and help create a more therapeutic environment,” he said.
The mere presence of a dog, Grant said, can de-escalate and improve a variety of situations that may arise at the hospital.
“Many times the dog just needs to be seen and it changes the conversation in a therapeutic way,” Grant said. “And as an added bonus people love and enjoy dogs.”
Peter Fraser, system director of public safety at Hartford HealthCare, has been working with a fluffy German Shepherd K-9 named Samira, or Sammy, for eight years. Sammy is “the matriarch” of the program, their first K-9, and has been a model for de-escalation tactics, her handler said.
“We saw right away how she could de-escalate behavior quickly,” said Fraser. “Just by stepping between a party and an officer, the focus goes to the K-9.”
Fraser, a former law enforcement officer who has been working with K-9s and raising German shepherds his whole life, said that the hospital dogs are “there to make our staff, our patients and our visitors feel more secure.”
That security, he said, often comes from their mere presence. Though the K-9s are each trained in a specialty, like bomb or weapons detection, they often are just there to help calm things down and interact with the more than 2,000 people who go in and out of the Hartford Hospital lobby each day.
Fraser said that hospital K-9s have to be comfortable interacting with new people all day and night, and that many of their K-9s — like 9-year-old Sammy — have become a staple at the hospital, known by folks who visit often and by residents in the community who see her on her patrol strolls.
“It’s been such a good protection service for us, and we’ve become ambassadors for the hospital,” said Fraser.
Though they are similarly trained, The K-9s at the hospital are a bit different than your average law enforcement K-9s. They are trained to be a bit more approachable, often getting petted by visitors and patients, and to focus on de-escalation and comfort.
“Their temperament is different. They aren’t as outwardly aggressive as police K-9s,” said Fraser, and unlike law enforcement dogs, the dogs can’t be trained to bite.
In Hartford, the Hartford Police Department currently has five patrol K-9s that are German Shepherds and six detection dogs are Labradors.
Each dog is trained in a specific discipline, ranging from evidence recovery to criminal apprehension involving biting techniques, said Hartford Sgt. Joseph Mauro.
Some are also trained for firearms detection, bomb detection or to look for specific drugs, Mauro said. The department just added a K-9 whose role will be more similar to the Hartford HealthCare dogs, a therapy dog for wellness named Kady who has spent the last year comforting folks during criminal trials or bonding with families in Bristol as they mourned two police officers killed on duty, Mauro said.
Hartford police K-9s are trained by the Connecticut State Police’s K-9 unit. The Connecticut State Police have more than 70 K-9s and certify about 200 K-9 teams throughout the state and region. Their dogs are trained for a variety of specialized jobs, like detecting arson accelerants, finding cash and searching for human remains, according to Connecticut State Police Sgt. Anthony Cristy.
State police K-9s are also fitted with bulletproof vests, most of which are donated to the police by residents and businesses throughout the state, said Cristy.
Whether you’re getting last minute shopping done or hitting the roads for the holidays, it was a busy Friday night.
Nearly a million people in our state will be hitting the road this holiday season to see family and friends, but before they can do that, they’re getting some last-minute holiday shopping done.
It’s hard to have the season of giving, without it being the season of spending, too.
“Clothes, makeup, hair supplies, brushes, earrings, and looking at apple products,” Anne Tomchuck, of Orange, said.
“A few jackets for winter,” Cassie McKittrick, of Branford, said.
Shoppers flocked to The Shops at Yale in New Haven to get gifts for loved ones.
Some are there to find the steals, like Tomchuck.
“Last minute deals, we’re hoping for a last-minute deal or a trade-in deal,” she said.
Others are embracing the last-minute shopping experience, like John McKittrick, of Branford.
“If I was a little craftier, I probably should have saved money, but I didn’t,” he said.
For the retailers themselves, Jahnaya Stone of Lou Lou Boutiques said local stores are getting lots of love.
“It’s definitely getting busy, especially this weekend,” Stone said. “Until Christmas Eve, we’re going to be open until nine instead of eight because it’s going to be busy.”
If crowds at shopping centers don’t tell you it’s the holiday season, the snowy highways will.
“Yeah the roads were fine, there’s no slickness out there,” Jon, of Madison, said.
People stopping at the Branford rest stop off Interstate 95 said traffic was mild during rush hour. But with a cold snap coming on one of the busiest travel days of the year, CT Department of Transportation vehicles were out in full force.
“I see ppl putting salt on the roads, I see people pulling over, police officers, emergency workers working,” Mekhi Barnett, of Stamford, said.
If you’re planning to travel the next few days by car, AAA says the morning is better to travel leading up to, and after, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The worst times to travel are the mid-day to afternoon hours.
Warming centers will open their doors across the state amid cold temperatures this weekend and into next week.
Saturday marks the first day of winter, and it will feel like the new season with highs in the 20s and low 30s.
By Sunday morning, the wind chill will fall below 0.
Winds will be gusting up to 25 miles per hour early on Sunday, so conditions will feel a bit bitter. The northwest hill towns will feel the worst of it.
Temperatures will remain low through Christmas Eve on Tuesday.
There is a possibility for some snow and rain showers on Christmas Eve and into early Christmas Day.
Our StormTracker meteorologists are monitoring the timing and temperatures associated with this system.
To see local warming centers near you, click here.
Connecticut
Strange Connecticut laws, such as receiving a $99 fine for selling silly string to a minor
Sometimes, certain laws in a state can make you wonder whether they are fact or fiction.
Some rather bizarre “laws” are nothing more than a myth, where others are clearly defined.
Like every other state, Connecticut has some strange laws.
If you look through any state’s laws, including Connecticut’s, you’re sure to find some confusing ones. (iStock)
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One quite famous strange “law” of Connecticut regards pickles.
Many online articles discuss a law in Connecticut stating that in order for a pickle to be considered a pickle, it must bounce.
The subject was investigated by many sources, including The Connecticut State Library and NBC CT.
Both point to the same article written in the Hartford Courant in 1948 as the source of the myth, where two pickle packers found themselves in legal trouble for selling pickles “unfit for human consumption.”
One strange Connecticut “law,” which is actually a myth, provides that pickles must bounce. (iStock)
When the “putrid” pickles were being tested, the Food and Drug Commissioner of the time, Frederick Holbrook, stated that a good test to tell whether a pickle was good or not was to “drop it one foot” and see if it bounced.
A bouncy pickle makes a good pickle.
When these particular pickles were dropped, they did not bounce and instead splattered, though the test was not the reason for the legal trouble. There were many laboratory tests also conducted.
Even though the pickle law is fictional, there are other strange laws in the state that are real.
Read about a few below.
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- Restrictions on silly string
- Don’t release balloons
- Limitations on arcade games
1. Restrictions on silly string
Minors aren’t trusted with silly string in Meriden, Connecticut.
Silly string is often used in a celebratory fashion, but it can quickly cause a big mess.
In the city of Meriden, silly string cannot be sold to minors unless they are with a parent or legal guardian.
The specifics are laid out in Chapter 175 of Meriden law.
Children of Meriden, Connecticut are not allowed to be sold silly string without a parent. (iStock)
If a store is selling silly string or products similar to it, it must be locked up, held behind the sales counter or “in some other manner which restricts public access to such products.”
The fine for breaking this law is $99.
2. Don’t release balloons
There are many occasions where balloons are purposefully released into the air. Many states have cracked down on this practice and have created laws limiting the release of balloons, or banning the act completely.
To date, there are ten states, including Connecticut, that have some sort of law regarding the release of balloons into the air, according to CBS News. Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware are others.
Connecticut General Statute Section 26-25C details this law.
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The law prevents the release of ten or more “helium or lighter-than-air gas balloons” into the atmosphere during a 24-hour period.
Though the release of balloons may seem harmless, and a law against it could seem rather strange, celebratory balloons could pose a danger to wildlife.
Animals could mistake balloons for food, causing harm or, in certain cases, death, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes on its website.
The strings of balloons can also be dangerous for animals, as they could get tangled up in them, the federal agency additionally notes.
Ten or more balloons may not be released into the air in Connecticut. (iStock)
3. Limitations on arcade games
Did you know that Rocky Hill, Connecticut, has a law involving arcade games?
The details are laid out in Chapter 81 of the town’s legislation.
Described in the law is the regulation that no “more than four mechanical amusement devices” are allowed.
As part of the law, individuals, partnerships, corporations, clubs or associations can not “have in any place within a permanent structure open to the general public or occupied by any club or association any mechanical amusement device without first having obtained a license therefor.”
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“Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A, no person shall have in any place within a permanent structure open to the general public more than four mechanical amusement devices,” the law also states.
Those who break this law face a fine of $25 for each day of violation.
South Carolina is another state that has a strange arcade law. Its law is specific to pinball. Those under the age of 18 are not allowed to play the popular game.
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