Last July, just before he retired, Sergeant Michael O’Connor worked a patrol shift with all three of his sons. This week another familiar Greenwich Police Dept family had a rare opportunity to work together.
Retired Greenwich Police Detective Frank Kelly, now an active member of the Greenwich Police Auxiliary, joined his sons, Sergeant Tom Kelly and Sergeant Tim Kelly, for a side job in Old Greenwich bright and early Monday morning.
Tim, who joined the force 18 years ago, said the last time all three worked a job together was in 2002.
“My father joined Greenwich Police Dept back in 1969,” said Tom who has been on the force 34 years himself. “He started us all off. Now he is in his 52nd year.”
Detective Frank Kelly retired on April 1, 2002 after serving 33 years.
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He served as youth officer in the mid-1970s, overseeing drug and crime prevention in the schools.
In the early 1980s, he became a detective and took over the Identification Division, responsible for collecting and collating crime scene evidence such as fingerprints and photographs.
Tom said his father’s first badge number was 175.
“When I came on, I had badge number 175 on patrol, and Timmy also had it when he was on patrol,” Tom said. “Now officer Ericka Garcia has badge 175.”
Tom joined the force on March 9, 1987 and Tim joined on Aug 6, 2001.
There is a third brother, the youngest of the three, but he did not opt for a career in law enforcement. Perhaps the Kellys like to do things in three’s. Tim has triplets!
All three of the Kellys have been in the news over the years, each having had the honor of blowing the whistle that officially starts the Greenwich’s St Patrick’s Parade.
Last summer Tom was part of the team recognized by John H Durham, the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, for exceptional work on the case of US vs David Byers. Byers wreaked havoc on Greenwich in April 2017 when he robbed a Citgo gas station and a Chase Bank branch, twice. He was chased by police in Pennsylvania and Arizona before being apprehended in California where he was sentenced in June 2018.
The Kellys live locally, which they said makes it easier to sign up for side jobs. Frank said as an auxiliary officer, he can stay as busy as he likes .
On Monday morning, in the midst of the pandemic that left Greenwich roadways with minimal traffic, the Kellys were the first to arrive at their side job. It wasn’t even 8:00am when the trio gathered, ready to assist a crew from Eversource who are replacing poles in the area.