Joel Hurliman - Leadership in Public Service

The Chamber ​presented a very special Leadership in Public Service Award to recently Retired Police Chief Joel Hurliman. 

Joel has enjoyed a remarkable 37-year career with the Shelton Police Department.  Let us take  a moment to recap Joel's climb to the top in the Shelton PD.

Curiously, Joel joined the force on April Fools Day, 1978 as a Supernumerary..aka.. as a part time officer. Over the course of his career:

• Promoted to regular Officer on March 28, 1980
• Promoted to Seargent on July 12, 1983
• Earned the rank of Lietenant on September 16, 1991
• Rose to the position on Captain on May 10, 1998
• Promoted to Deputy Chief in January, 2002
• And in March of 2006, was promoted to Chief, where he served with distinction until his official retirement date of October 17, 2015.

Concurrently, Joel also served his country as an officer in the Connecticut National Guard, retiring on August 29th of this year after 23 years of active service.

Education, athletics and community service have been life-long passions of the Chief.  He began his educational pursuits by earning an Associates Degree in Law Enforcement at Middlesex Community College, and went on to earn his Bachelors in Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut.  But he didn't stop there, as he since has since earned two masters degrees:  One in Administration of Justice & Security from the University of Phoenix 2008; and the other in Homeland Security with a concentration in Intelligence from the American Military University  in 2009.

In the world of athletics, Bill had the pleasure of running alongside the Chief as well as Mayor Lauretti in the "Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run" along with a number of 5k road races over the years.

Most recently, Joel joined the Mayor on the starting line of the annual Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day Road Race to benefit the Boys & Girls Club.

Not only was it Thanksgiving Day, but it was "Joel Hurliman Day' in the City of Shelton as declared by Mayor Lauretti  at the Alderman Meeting of November 12th, where Joel was publicy honored.  By the way, this was the 8th 5k road race of 2015 for Joel, and he hopes to get back up to the 33 total races he has done in prior years.

Over the years that Bill has served as chamber president, Joel has been a great friend and active participant in Chamber activities. Whether it was addressing the Chamber's Hotel Council about security issues, attending grand openings of new Shelton businesses, or joining us at Chamber networking events throughout the year, Joel always demonstrated a high level of interest in our community and was highly accessible to his constituents.
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Joel has been named Police Officer of the year by the Knights of St. Patrick, and has earned numerous police awards and decorations over the years.  And his service has extended beyond the city borders, such as volunteering his services in Sandy Hook on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2012, in order to provide some time off for his fellow officers.

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