After only two weeks in the Chief's chair, Loranger was confronted with a near fatal tragedy. On July 16, 1989, officers Giusseppe Uccello and Robert Kertanis were both shot in the line of duty. One of the officers had his weapon removed during a struggle with the suspect, at which time both officers were shot twice. Luckily they survived, but this incident served to increase the efforts of the Hartford Police Union for the department to change service revolvers. After months of research and negotiations by the Hartford Police Union, Loranger authorized the department to change from the .38 revolver to a .45 semi-automatic. Although he was initially resistant to this type of change, he did come to accept it as a necessary and safer change for the officers on the street.

Loranger's priority was to build on the basic tenets of community oriented policing and knew that if it were to be an eventual reality, he needed to improve on interaction between various City departments. He did not believe that the Police Department should be an autonomous entity but that it should be a part of City government, actively involved in the problem solving process.

It was through that type of direction that Lt. James Donnelly assisted in the development of the HARTLINK radio communications system. HARTLINK was developed to enhance and improve citywide service delivery through improved coordination and cooperation. This advanced technology differed radically from systems that existed in the past. All user departments could access each other's workers directly if needed. This feature eliminated the barriers to communicating exact problems and service requests. Special talk groups were created for emergency operations such as storms or disaster operations. In the event of a serious storm or disaster where all city workers needed to communicate, the facility was already in place, thus increasing municipal preparedness. For police operations, this system provides radically improved access and function. Narcotics officers are equipped with specially encrypted radios which preclude eavesdropping by drug dealers. Special operations such as crime suppression or gang violence interdiction can be allocated to separate talk groups without interfering with patrol dispatch. And, neighborhood reclamation activities which highlight the role of the Community Service Officers can be focused to keep other interested city agency and service providers informed of changing conditions.

In keeping with the basic tenets of Community-Oriented Policing and the purpose for the technological advances, the Hartford Police Department initiated its COMPASS program in the spring of 1990. COMPASS was Hartford's award winning proposal to the National Institute of Justice which represented a new approach by the City in its attempts to improve the quality of life in areas besieged by crime and drug activity. The basic premise of this program was that street level drug were a primary factor in the declining quality of life in urban neighborhoods. The cornerstone of this proposal was a technology-supported, community policing philosophy focused on the concept of neighborhood reclamation. COMPASS was based on the belief that the only effective means of reversing urban decay are the combined resources and applied efforts of the police, the community, and the government.

One of the catalysts for the COMPASS program was the surge in gang violence and gang activity. At the time, the department was beginning to experience manpower shortages due to attrition. These shortages, along with budgetary issues, greatly impacted the department's efforts to curb the gang violence. In collaboration with the State Police to create a stronger police presence on the street, a program of pairing a State Trooper with a Hartford officer was developed. This program, titled Save Our Streets (SOS), created much controversy in regards to collective bargaining issues. The Hartford Police Union resisted this program in the best interest of its members. The Union did, however, maintain the interests of the community as well and negotiated successful language that was eventually included in the contract between the City and the Union which allowed Troopers to work in the City, when necessary, without taking anything away from the Hartford officers.

This program also served as not only a learning experience and eye opener for the Troopers but was a learning experience for Hartford officers as well. It also developed a mutual respect between the two agencies. This program also proved effective in maintaining a strong police presence on the street, thereby reducing the surge in gang violence that had occurred.

Loranger's direction continued to build on the tenets of COP. To address the growing concern around the diversity of not only the department, but the City as well, Loranger commissioned the formation of a Sensitivity Committee to address these concerns. He appointed Assistant Chief Jesse Campbell to chair the committee. The committee was comprised of selected sworn and civilian employees chosen to reflect the diversity existing within the department. The final report of the Sensitivity Committee was issued in January of 1992 and the results were not surprising. Although it was determined through various interviews, surveys and other community and employee feed-back that there were issues that needed to be addressed, perceptions of Hartford Police officers and employees were relatively positive.

One historical note that occurred during this period was accomplished through the efforts of Detective Thomas Goodrow and a member of the Hartford Fire Department, Lt. Rick Davies. Through the diligent efforts of these two investigators, the identity of "Little Miss 1565", the young unidentified girl killed in the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, was made.

In June of 1993, Loranger, along with other police and City administrators, was offered a lucrative retirement package that was too good to pass up. Although his work was not complete, after 27 years of service to the Hartford Police and City, he felt it was time to retire. His recommendation to succeed him was Assistant Chief Jesse Campbell.

On June 30, 1993, a historic event occurred within the Hartford Police Department when Assistant Chief of Police Jesse L. Campbell was appointed Chief of Police. Chief Campbell became the first African-American to hold the rank of Chief, rising to the position over the course of a distinguished 25-year career during which he held every civil service position within the Department. 

Chief Campbell continued to lead the Hartford Police Department towards it’s goal of fully adopting community oriented through many different initiatives, including the Hartford Way. Chief Campbell’s tenure was not long, as he accepted a lucrative retirement offer made by the City to it’s long serving administrators. 

Chief Campbell’s distinguished career in law enforcement has continued. Upon retiring form the Hartford Police Department, he was appointed to the State of Connecticut Parole Board by then-Governor Lowell Weicker. Chief Campbell went on to become the first African-American Police Chief in the State University System of New York at Buffalo State College. He is currently the Director of Public Safety at Florida International University, a position he has held since 1996.