Greenwich Police Chief Peter Robbins Obituary

The funeral for retired Chief Peter Robbins will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary Church on Greenwich Avenue.

Chief Robbins, 66, was born in Greenwich on Sept 11, 1945. His father was the late Greenwich Police Chief David W. Robbins. at his Lewes, DE home on March 5.

He was a graduate of St. Mary’s High School, attended Sacred Heart University, Norwalk Community College and was a graduate of Iona College in 1978 with a bachelor of science in business administration and criminal justice.

He served in the U.S. Army, 272nd Military Police Company, 1st Field Force in Vietnam. Upon his return to Greenwich worked he briefly for Olin Chemical until deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps.

He joined the Greenwich Police Department in 1970 as a patrolman. In 1976 he was assigned to the Detective Bureau, and was promoted to sergeant in 1977. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1980. In 1981 he headed the crime prevention and training division. Elevated to captain in 1984, he headed the criminal investigation division. He was appointed deputy chief in 1990 and in 1997 became chief of police, wearing the shield of his father who retired in 1963. He and his father were the only father-son chiefs of police in the department's history.

The recipient of many awards, he was awarded the Government Official of the Year Award in 1999, Policeman of the Year Award in 1990 from the Greenwich Lions Club for establishing the department's Special Response and Honor Guard units, and the 1995 Bell Award from the Greenwich Bar Association.

He was a graduate of the FBI National Academy in 1980 and was a member of the National Academy Associates, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, and the New England Association of Chiefs of Police.

Chief Robbins retired from the Greenwich Police Department on Dec. 1, 2002 and took a position as Chief of Security at . In 2007 he moved to Lewes, DE, where he served as chief of uniformed services for the Delaware Court System.

Proud of his Irish heritage, he was a founding member of the Greenwich Police Emerald Society. He and his brother Dave played in the Emerald Society Pipe Band which performed at his graduation from the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA.

Predeceased by his parents and brother William, he is survived by his wife Eileen, daughter Colleen Glackin (Jeff), and son Timothy (Lauren) and grandchildren; Riley, Grace, Kendall, Keegan and Connor Glackin, and Colin Robbins. He also is survived by his brother Dave (Carole), a former district chief of the Greenwich Fire Department, and several nieces and nephews.

Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, North Street, Greenwich. Friends may call at the Fred D. Knapp & Son Funeral Home, 267 Greenwich Ave. Greenwich from 4 to 8 PM on Friday, March 9.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Greenwich Police Scholarship Fund, c/o Chief James Heavey, 11 Bruce Place, Greenwich, CT 06830.

The full departmental and military funeral will be presided by Greenwich Police Chaplain Monsignor Frank C. Wissel at St. Mary Church, 178 Greenwich Ave.

To accommodate the funeral procession which will include the Greenwich Police honor guard, motorcycle and patrol units, as well as representatives from departments from throughout the region, Greenwich Avenue will be closed to traffic between Lewis Street and East and West Elm streets, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to a statement released the department Thursday.