Courtesy of Yale Public Safety

Hundreds of friends, family members and uniformed police officers filled a Wallingford auditorium on Wednesday to commemorate the life of Gregory Swiantek, a Yale Police Department officer who died suddenly on March 12.

Swiantek, 47, served on the Yale Police Department’s community engagement team, bicycle team and honor guard — a ceremonial unit that often represents the department at public events. Affectionately known as “Officer Greg” or “Swanny,” Swiantek joined the YPD in 2007 and worked there for 17 years.

On March 14, YPD Chief Anthony Campbell DIV ’09 told WTNH that Swiantek was believed to have died from a heart attack after responding to multiple calls, including taking an individual with several warrants into custody and supporting state police with an escaped fugitive. The department considers his passing a death in the line of duty. On Wednesday, hundreds of uniformed officers from the YPD and municipal police departments joined Swiantek’s family to celebrate the officer’s life in a traditional “line of duty” funeral service.

“Gregory Swiantek wasn’t just committed to his profession, he was committed to the people behind the badge and the people we serve,” Campbell said. “His service was never about recognition. It was about duty, about making a difference, about standing alongside his colleagues with honor and pride.”

At Wednesday’s ceremony, friends, relatives and colleagues spoke about Swiantek’s love of music, sense of humor and devotion to his 10-year-old daughter Remy. Campbell and Ronnell Higgins, Yale’s former police chief and public safety associate vice president, described Swiantek’s dedication to his job at the YPD, and the personable and caring attitude he shared with those he served and worked alongside.

Born in Danbury, Swiantek grew up in East Haven and volunteered at the town’s fire department. Before attending the police academy, he worked as an emergency medical technician for an ambulance service and as a dispatcher and dispatch supervisor for the since-disbanded South Central Connecticut Regional Emergency Communications System.

As a YPD officer, Swiantek was active in various biking initiatives. He memorably donned a yellow suit and black cape at a bike rodeo, educating children on cycling safety as “Captain Super Safe.”

“The memories from that one event are emblematic of who Greg was,” Higgins said. “Greg was who we needed him to be on that day, where we needed him on that day, and that’s who he was each and every day.”

University web archives are rife with testaments to Swiantek’s dedication as a community outreach officer. 

In a University “Staff Spotlight” interview with Swiantek from May 2020, Swiantek admits to brewing “gallons” of homemade hand sanitizer in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic so that each police vehicle could have a refillable spray bottle to accommodate the department’s strict sanitizing protocols. Asked in the interview about the first thing he planned to do after the pandemic, Swiantek responded enthusiastically, “Find the first concert I can go to and go!”

In November 2021, Swiantek delivered a police cruiser “stuffed” with food donations to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen. Six months later, Swiantek organized a team of officers — including the YPD’s dog Heidi — to visit all the residential college dining halls with chocolates and notes of gratitude for the dining staff. In October 2022 he donned a pink patch and joined School of Medicine oncologists in promoting breast cancer awareness at an event on the New Haven Green.

This past spring, he volunteered for Read Across America events and participated in a “law enforcement torch run” for Special Olympics Connecticut. He also was a tenor drummer in the pipes and drums band of the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society. The society played in Swiantek’s honor at his funeral.

“Each month, he cheerfully transported thousands of pounds of food, always leading with kindness and generosity,” Haven’s Harvest, a local food waste reduction group, wrote in a Facebook post honoring Swiantek’s dedication to volunteering for the organization. “His impact on our community was immeasurable, and he will be greatly missed.”

YPD officers are selling sweatshirts with Swiantek’s patch and the “thin blue line” American flag, with proceeds to be donated to Swiantek’s daughter Remy. A fund for Remy is also being set up through Our Community Heroes, a nonprofit that organizes charities for individuals in service professions and their families.

The fund has already garnered over $11,000 in donations from individuals, families and local police associations.