VSP's Ray Keefe Moves
To Headquarters
By Sandy Cooch

After 13 years of being stationed at VSP’s Royalton barracks—first as sergeant, then detective sergeant, and then lieutenant—Capt. Ray Keefe is now working at the Police Academy building in Pittsford.

As chief of VSP’s professional development office, Keefe is responsible for designing advanced training and education for the current force, and for recruiting trooper candidates into the annual training sessions. (See side article.)

Other responsibilities of his position—recently made into a captain-level post—will be trooper retention, and policy and procedural reviews.

Although public safety and criminal investigations have been his chief focus during his 19 years as a trooper, detective, and commander, the 40-year-old Keefe is, in many ways, a natural to head the force’s education and training division.

"I think educated cops are the best cops—as long as they retain common sense," he said.

Keefe, who knew that he wanted to be a cop from the time he was a kid, got his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice before entering the VSP training program as a 21-year-old.

As a new trooper, he was first stationed in southeastern Vermont. On Keefe’s promotion to sergeant in 1993, he moved to the Bethel (now Royalton) barracks, where he stayed until last month.

In his years here, he gained a reputation as smart investigator, whose insight and experience paid dividends when interrogating suspects.

Top Investigator

Notable cases included the 1998 arrest of Hazzard Campbell Jr., whom Keefe and other detectives apprehended 12 hours after the 40-year-old man released the female Barnard jogger he had kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and tortured.

In another high-profile case, a Massachusetts man, Gary Lee Sampson, confessed to Keefe that he had recently murdered three men in neighboring states in July, 2001, after Keefe and other VSP officers took Sampson into custody while investigating a Bridgewater carjacking.

Investigative triumphs, unfortunately, always have a bleak side, Keefe said.

"These successes are all set in motion by the fact that something terrible happened to somebody good," he reflected.

During his three-plus years as the Royalton barracks commander, Keefe oversaw the construction of the new and greatly expanded station, which opened last year. As of August, the station was fully staffed with 15 uniformed troopers, three uniformed sergeants, and four Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) detectives, he said.

Could Be Blunt

Keefe’s outspokenness led to a few controversies, including the time his public criticisms about too few troopers on middle-of-the-night patrols put him in some trouble with his superiors.

Keefe said he stands by his statements—made because he found "something of concern."

Nor does he apologize for being "blunt."

"If I was not open about things," Keefe said, "I would not be a person I could respect. But, in retrospect," he added, "I could have gone about things differently."

Locally, Keefe was criticized last year by some selectboards, notably Rochester’s, for running "closed" meetings of the CAB, regional community advisory board, that meet periodically with their regional barracks chief.

Keefe noted that his successor in Royalton, Lt. Bill Harkness, will convene the next CAB meeting this fall.

In his departing interview last month, Keefe conceded that he will miss the police work, and he’ll miss the "contact with the communities" he has worked in for 13 years.

He will also miss seeing his "very motivated" barracks staff. Keefe, who said he feels that his latest promotion is due to their good efforts, noted that Royalton barracks last year had the highest number of DUI citations—247—of any barracks in the state.

But, as for getting up in the middle of the night on a report of a "man with a gun"—as happened this summer: "I don’t think I’m gonna miss that," Keefe said.

SIDEBAR

Join the State Police?

Vermont State Police are seeking trooper candidates, and the man issuing the request for qualified men and women is Capt. Ray Keefe, formerly Lt. Keefe and the commander of the Royalton barracks.

Keefe, promoted to the rank of captain in August, is now commander of VSP’s office of professional development in Pittsford.

"VSP is currently testing applicants for the position of state trooper," Keefe announced this week. "The next test date is Nov. 11, at the Police Academy in Pittsford. The next academy class will begin in January, 2007."

Keefe said VSP is seeking candidates who are interested and dedicated to serving their communities and state.

Before he left the Royalton barracks last month for his new position, Keefe told The Herald that he would be "looking for the best" to put together the next class of 15-20 troopers.

Successful candidates have to be "balanced," he said.

"They have to be tough enough to do the job, and compassionate enough to do it right."

Those interested should call VSP’s office of professional development at 802-483-2606 or go to www.vtsp.org to obtain an application."

New Role for Capt. Keefe