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07/06/2022 08:30 AMEast Haven native Timothy “Tim” Shaw graduated from East Haven High School in 1984 to begin his undergraduate study at UCONN. He left college in his senior year, however, to eagerly take a position as a police officer at the Stamford Police Department in Stamford, Connecticut.
Tim was 21 at the time and his brother-in-law—who was a Stamford police officer—suggested he fill out an application.
“It wasn’t a life-long dream at that point,” says Tim of entering police work, but “it became the right choice for me,” he soon learned. “In Stamford, I had a lot of opportunities to do different things and move around within the police department.”
Although moving into police work before obtaining his college diploma seemed the right thing to do at the time, Tim later realized he might be better off with a college degree. “I had to go back to make up the degree over time,” he admits.
Tim had worked in the uniform patrol division at the Stamford Police Department for just two years when he became an investigator for the Statewide Narcotics Task Force.
“I worked as an undercover officer within Fairfield County to infiltrate organizations in coordination with local, state, and federal partners,” explains Tim.
He later served as sergeant and lieutenant within the Narcotics Division, worked in the role of patrol lieutenant responsible for patrol duties of the Eastside District in Stamford, and in 2008, when Tim was a lieutenant, he took on more managerial duties as he supervised investigators within the Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
“In this position, I was tasked with investigating all homicides and other serious crimes that happen within Stamford,” says Tim.
He went on to serve as lieutenant commander for the Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit, where he worked with federal organizations including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshall’s Office.
“In narcotics work, you felt bad for the people who were using but going after the people who were selling it,” says Tim. “That was interesting work, especially when you’re 23 or 24 years old and working undercover. Most of my work was in Bridgeport, so it was some busy times.”
Eventually, Tim also graduated from the FBI National Academy and the Senior Management in Policing Executive Training, prior to his appointment as Stamford’s assistant chief of police by then Chief Jon Fontneau.
“As assistant chief, I oversaw the investigative divisions, administrative divisions, and all civilian personnel,” notes Tim.
After that illustrious career track—rising quickly from uniform officer to assistant chief—Tim left the large Stamford city police department of nearly 300 officers, to become the police chief of the small town of Easton, Connecticut, in 2015.
“I never had a honeymoon period,” notes Tim of his move to a small, and expectantly quiet town of about 7,500 residents. “I was chief for just two weeks when the tragic double murder of Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin occurred,” recalls Tim.
Thanks to Tim’s earlier homicide investigation training and experience, the victim’s son, Kyle Navin (27 at the time), and his accomplice, girlfriend Jennifer Valiante (age 31 at the time), were arrested for the murders following a three-month investigation. Navin was later convicted and sentenced to two concurrent 55-year prison terms for his guilt admission, with no eligibility for parole or early release.
Although those first three months as Easton’s new chief of police were challenging—because of the double murder case—his working in Easton suited his family life since the home nest was growing emptier. At the time, his daughter was a freshman in college and his son was a sophomore in high school, “so it was good to be closer to home, working in Easton,” Tim recalls.
After five years as Easton’s chief of police, Tim returned to Stamford to assume the chief of police role in April of 2020. He was back home, where it all started years before.
In stride with Tim’s humanitarian nature, as a manager within the policing field, he’s taken the initiative in handling challenges ranging from police accountability (stemming from the George Floyd tragedy) to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency service personnel as well as on the people within the community.
Throughout his career, Tim has worked tirelessly and diligently—with an abundance of positive energy that is infectious to all who work with and know him—to promote policing excellence, and he has been recognized many times for his leadership work in law enforcement.
Tim was noted as one of the First 100 Plus Leaders by the State’s Coalition against domestic violence, and in 2019 he was given an award by the Connecticut State Police for leading the police response to the Navin family double murder investigation.
Tim also received the Distinguished Chief’s award from the Connecticut Police Commissioners in 2018, was nominated in 2019 to serve on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association, and most recently, in 2020, the Stamford Boys and Girls Club recognized Tim as a Champions of Youth.
Despite his numerous accomplishments in law enforcement, Tim is humble about the accolades he’s received, as well as his promotions through the ranks of command.
Presently, Tim is turning his work with local youth into a bigger program. “I’ve had some Wednesday Workouts with the Chief events,” Tim says, “where I go out to a park and work out with the kids.” But now that connection to youth is expanding into the founding of a Police Activities League (PAL) Center for the young people of Stamford.
“We got a lease with a building owner, and they are going to allow us to open our own community center for police activities,” Tim explains, which, like other municipal PAL programs, will provide educational and athletic programs for children throughout the city, as well as sponsor summer events and after school programs for youth. Tim expects the Stamford PAL Center to open within the next few months.
As for Tim entering the East Haven High School Hall of Fame later his year—in yet another well-served recognition of his career accomplishments as a public servant—he readily acknowledges the good people of East Haven for providing him with the foundation he needed to succeed in life and career, following a tragedy in his own life.
“I lost my father [suddenly] my senior year [of high school] of a heart attack, so my mother was a single mother raising eight kids; I was number seven of eight,” Tim recalls. “And in the ‘It takes a village approach,’ the way the hard-working people of East Haven supported my family and me, guided me into how I ended up where I am today.”