Chief Andrew Cota III
ANSONIA — Ansonia Police Chief Andrew L. Cota is taking off his badge after a 30-year career in law enforcement.
Cota, 51, is resigning from the Ansonia Police Department effective Aug. 13. He submitted his letter of resignation to Mayor David Casetti June 25.
Cota on Wednesday told the Valley Indy another opportunity “too good to pass up” has come his way. The father of two grown sons, proud grandpa to grandkids, and married to wife, Denyse, is planning to take a job in the private sector.
“I’ve been in law enforcement my entire adult life, and it’s been nothing but good,” Cota said. “You get to a point where it’s time to leave law enforcement to the other guys and let them grow into future leaders. For me, it’s time to leave.”
Leaving behind three decades of fighting crime will be bittersweet for Cota, a Derby native who has called Ansonia home most of his life.
“Being able to do this job for this amount of time, I have really enjoyed it,” Cota said. “This is my home; my kids were born and raised here. The most difficult part is leaving the people I work with. These are the people you work with day in and day out. We have the new building coming, and it will be in very good hands.”
Cota said he’s proud to have worked on and solved a lot of major cases in Ansonia with his fellow officers, but will forever hold out hope that one of the city’s biggest cases — the disappearance of little Vanessa Morales — can be resolved with a happy outcome. The toddler went missing Dec. 2019. Cota said the department is still actively pursuing the case.
Cota said he’s especially proud to have continued a program started by former Chief Kevin Hale where police visit the city schools and talk to the kids about anything and everything. Developing a good rapport with the public, especially with all that transpired over the past year with police brutality dominating the news, has been a major issue for Cota.
“We have worked hard for a lot of years on being good community members, and are keeping our offices involved with the MLK Committee, part of community forums and have opened the lines of communication with the public,” Cota said.
One thing that Cota still loses sleep over is the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected policing.
“COVID was overwhelming and terrifying,” he said. “We didn’t know what it was and how it would affect us. We had to figure out how to keep our officers and the public safe. Luckily we got through, but we got some cases, and we got some scares. COVID was probably the most difficult thing I had to deal with in all my years in law enforcement. The health of all our citizens and our officers was on us 24/7.”
Cota was promoted to chief in October 2019. His family history is deeply rooted in law enforcement, with Cota’s dad, Andrew Cota Jr., the former longtime police chief in Derby, and his late uncle, Allen Cota, a former Derby police officer.
Cota began his career as a city police officer in 1991. Shortly after that he was laid off due to budget cutbacks, and briefly took a part-time police officer position with the Middlebury Department before being rehired in October 1992 by Ansonia. He was promoted to sergeant in 1995, to lieutenant in 2001 and served several years as the department’s public information officer.
Mayor Cassetti said he was surprised at the resignation, and is hoping to find a replacement soon. Cassetti believes the city should pursue a candidate from outside the department, but knows that likely won’t be a popular opinion. The mayor said a new approach in the department might be welcomed.
Ansonia, like towns all over the state, saw a sharp increase in property crimes during the pandemic.
“We’ve gotten a lot of complaints from residents about drug dealing, stealing and noise, and we’re hearing ‘we’ll take care of it’ from the police, but nothing is getting done,” Cassetti said. “I’ve got to get an outside person’s point of view to see where we have deficiencies. I may have a fight on my hands from the police commission if I don’t promote from within, but I think the residents will support me one-hundred percent”Cassetti also wished Cota well on his next endeavor.
“I think he did a fine job, but it was his decision to leave,” Cassetti said. “I want to move forward with the new police station.”
Cota, on hearing Cassetti wants to hire the next chief from outside, thinks that’s a bad idea.
“Absolutely we should promote from within, we have qualified people who know the ins and outs of this department,” Cota said, adding the police commission has the authority to hire the next chief, with input from the mayor.
Cota is the second lower Valley police chief to announce a retirement after a short stint as leader. Seymour Police Chief Paul Satkowski is scheduled to retire at the end of the year.
The chief’s letter of resignation.
