Lt. J. Paul Vance, the longtime face and voice of the Connecticut State Police, is being transferred from his spokesman position to the department’s traffic division, according to a Thursday night report by The Hartford Courant.
Citing unnamed sources, The Courant reports that Vance will take on a supervisory role in the state police traffic division.
Vance, 62, of Waterbury gained national attention for his handling of the of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012. He led press conferences with reporters for days after the shooting that killed 26 students and teachers in Newtown. Mail came in from all over the world, The Courant noted on Thursday, praising Vance for his demeanor and the respect he showed victims’ families following the attack.
According to state records, Vance has served as a Connecticut state trooper since 1974 and he earns $126,734 annually. He has been the lead spokesman for the state police since the late 1990s.
Messages left with the state police on Thursday were not immediately returned.