People Talk / A conversation with Police Chief Carl LaCorte
Kenmore’s ‘take no prisoners’ lawman
Carl LaCorte has been a cop for 41 years, serving the Village of Kenmore Police Department as officer, detective, desk lieutenant, road lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and since 2006, chief of police.
At age 63, LaCorte is techno-savvy and proud of his service to a community known for its strict enforcement of the laws. Recently, LaCorte will tell you, the Village of Kenmore was honored as one of the top 10 neighborhoods in the country.
People Talk:What distinguishes Kenmore from other municipalities?
Carl LaCorte: It’s small. That enables us to provide the highest standard of service that anyone can provide. We aren’t supermen. We have the advantage of geography. No one in this county can claim that when they call a cop, one will be there in two minutes or less. I can, and that is one of the standards I maintain.
PT: Kenmore has been called a police state, you know.
LC: I take that as a compliment, and it’s not a police state. It’s strict enforcement that results in a safer place for our residents. We know it keeps the bad guys from returning. You’re not going to get warned, you’ll get arrested. I don’t want bums hanging around. The mayor put it best when we won our “Ten Best Neighborhood” award: “We take no prisoners.”
PT: You have such a kind face. Is it tough being a police officer?
LC: I’ve had no problems with this face, being a cop. I’m stern when I have to be. I mean I run a police department, a paramilitary organization. It’s not a democracy. That doesn’t mean you have to be General Patton. I certainly enjoy more helping out the good people, but I’d be a fool to tell you I didn’t get excited, and I still get excited if I arrest a bad guy.
PT:How many people are arrested in Kenmore?
LC: A lot, for a village our size. I have 25 men. I have a mile and a quarter square and about 16,500 people jammed into that. We’re a first-ring suburb. If the officers aren’t on service calls, we expect them to generate their own work. That’s why they stop cars and we have strict enforcement and we write a lot of summonses. That’s why they call us a police state. Is it boring? No.
PT: Did you feel like the Maytag repairman?
LC: No. First of all, I have to monitor everything that’s going on because I’m looking to improve things —if they can be improved. Last year, I installed video cameras in patrol cars, and I changed to electronic scan fingerprinting. A few months ago, I instituted Taser weapons, the shock guns.
PT: Do you need them in Kenmore?
LC: Yes, because we don’t need to hurt anyone, and we don’t need to get hurt. More than that, just the sight of that weapon totally diffuses the situation. No one has to get in fisticuffs, get injured. At the end of the day when you go home, if you didn’t get hurt and if you didn’t have to hurt anybody, that is good.
PT: Do you take your job home with you?
LC: No. My wife is a crime victim advocate for the State Police. She talks about her job much more than I talk about mine. When I go home, I like to watch TV and work on computers.
PT:What do you do for fun?
LC: Computers. I like surfing the Internet. I have three computers in front of me at home. I know it sounds a little geeky, but I do. One is running XP. One is running Vista—I like making slide shows with music, and things like that. I like playing slot machine games on the computer because it doesn’t cost me anything. My first computer was a Commodore 64.
PT: When was your last murder?
LC: 1987, when a young woman was beaten to death in an East Hazeltine residence. I remember that day because I got called in on a Sunday. The most notable homicide I investigated was called the 911 Murder back in 1976. A woman was killed because 911 didn’t work properly. I still get the chills thinking about it. We caught the guy and I was able to arrest him.
PT:What led you to policing?
LC: I started doing this when I was 21 years old. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college. Business wasn’t my type of thing. I was fortunate, I took the exam. I scored third in the county. I have two brothers who are also police officers.
PT:What don’t you like about the job?
LC:We arrest the same people over and over, but you learn to live with it. You say to yourself: “Hey, I got him once. I’ll get him again.” This is the kind of job, that you will never put yourself out of business. There’s always going to be crime, and a need to help people. I love what I do. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. In police work, you can retire after 20 [years]. I’m not ready.
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