In 1855, the area now known as Bethel separated from Danbury and incorporated as the "Village of Bethel." The Village of Bethel maintained a few constables to enforce the law answering to the Office of the First Selectman. They received calls through Danbury's radio/phone system, the Selectman's Office, and word of mouth. It would not be until 1947 that it would officially organize its Police Depa
rtment with a Chief of Police and a Police Commission. Morris Star Britto, a Bethel native, became constable in 1912. This was a part-time job that Britto worked along with his regular job at the Nashville Road Hat Shop. Britto eventually became a full-time constable and served as the Town's only police officer responding to calls in his own vehicle, an unmarked Desoto Roadster. A 1930 City directory lists the Police Department at 15 Fountain Place which is today P.T. A jail was located at the Second Meeting House which was then the Town Hall. In 1933, the Police Department moved to 118 Greenwood Avenue and then to Library Place in 1963. In 1974, the Bethel Police Department moved to its current location at 49 Plumtrees Road.
