Twenty-four years ago, as the dust still swirled around lower Manhattan and the country reeled from the September 11 terrorist attacks, Lt. Richard Anderson was already en route to New York City. Then a member of the Milford Police Department’s SWAT team, he arrived on the evening of 9/11 and spent the next six days just steps from Ground Zero — helping establish command posts, coordinating with emergency responders, and witnessing the devastation firsthand.
Today, Lt. Anderson protects a very different community — the students, faculty, and staff at Southern Connecticut State University. But the memories of that week in New York remain vivid, and the lessons he learned still guide him.
“Going down the West Side Highway… you see the smoke billowing up,” Anderson recalled in an interview with WTNH. “You kind of think, somebody was either in those [crushed vehicles] or somebody was in those buildings.”
Despite the pain and destruction, he also remembers how people came together — delivering food, clothing, and kindness to the first responders.
“It was amazing to see,” he said. “There was not a mean person in the world it seemed like that day.”
Now nearly a quarter century later, Anderson finds himself surrounded by students who weren’t even born when 9/11 happened. He knows the distance of time can dull the urgency of memory — but he encourages anyone on campus who’s curious to ask.
“If you’re not a direct part of it, or didn’t actually see it, I think it has less effect on you,” he told WTNH. “But there was this patriotism… We all came together.”
Anderson is one of several SCSU officers with ties to 9/11 response. Deputy Chief Ken Rahn also served with Milford Police Department and was part of the regional effort to support New York in the days that followed.
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