Lt. J. Paul Vance, the State Police spokesman who became familiar to the public during and after the Sandy Hook school shootings in Dec., 2012, has announced his retirement.
Vance, who has spent the last few years heading up the state police traffic division, will leave on April 1.
Trooper First Class Kelly Grant, who succeeded Vance as the chief public information officer, confirmed his retirement.
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The state open records database shows that Vance earned $136,000 last year.
He has been a Connecticut state police trooper for more than 38 years, and during his career he was assigned to patrol at both Troop L in Litchfield and Troop I in Bethany. He was assigned as a specialty K-9 handler, a SWAT Team member, a helicopter medic, and to other various specialized assignments, according to his bio on the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma website.
Vance has served as a detective on the State Police Major Crime Squad and as the resident trooper in the town of Prospect. He was an instructor at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy and also conducted in-service training classes for all state troopers.
As commanding officer of the Public Information Office, Lt. Vance was the public voice and face of the state police.
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Vance announced in March, 2011 that he intended to try out for the next season of "Survivor" when the reality show held tryouts the following week Tryouts at Foxwoods.
"He is on TV, he is kind of cranky, he'd be good on an island, and his wife would like to send him to an island," J. Paul Vance Jr. said of his father at the time.
