Although Newtown resident Emily Clark, 23, only recently graduated from the Connecticut Municipal Police Academy, she has been preparing for a law enforcement career for years through volunteering, schooling, and work experience.

Ms Clark, whose family has lived in Newtown for several generations, is undergoing field training with the New Canaan Police Department in southern Fairfield County. By April, it is expected that Ms Clark and three other newly hired New Canaan officers will be on independent patrol as probationary police officers.

Ms Clark was sworn into office as a policewoman last June, after which she spent 29 weeks in police academy training. Her current field training program requires at least 400 hours of instruction.

Asked what sparked her interest in police work, Ms Clark said, “I’ve always loved helping people.” Through police work, she hopes to “make the public feel safer, better,” she said.

Ms Clark said she is looking forward to police patrol work. She listed police dog handling, detective work, and community policing as her areas of interest.

A graduate of Post University in Waterbury, Ms Clark has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, with a minor in marketing. While studying law enforcement at the college level, Ms Clark learned much about case law, the court system, and specifically the US criminal justice system, including probation and parole. Communications also was a prime component of study.

Ms Clark has had an interest in law enforcement for many years, having joined the Newtown Police Department’s youth group in 2011. Initially known as the Explorers, the group later switched its name to the Cadets. One of its first members, Ms Clark for a time served as the group’s chief, and spent eight years in the program. She also participated in the police department’s Student Police Academy, an informational program designed for high school students.

Ms Clark is also a volunteer firefighter with Newtown Hook & Ladder. She is an emergency medical technician (EMT) formerly affiliated with the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. For about one year, she worked as an emergency dispatcher at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center (NECC) at Town Hall South. Dispatchers send police, fire, and ambulance crews on calls. Ms Clark has also worked as a dispatcher in Redding and Easton.

“I like to stay busy,” said the Newtown High School graduate.

Ms Clark explains that she has a thirst for knowledge about law enforcement. “I’ll learn anything I can,” she said, adding, “I want to learn as much as I can.”

Ms Clark’s friend Paula Wickman, who is a Newtown police officer, said of her, “Emily is a dedicated, highly motivated young lady who does not let anything stand in her way. Her energy is contagious, which inspires the people around her. She is hard working and her integrity will make her a great police officer.”

Maureen Will, the town director of emergency communications who heads the NECC, said, “Emily was a dispatcher at the NECC ... and she used her experience [as an Explorer/Cadet] to help her when answering questions and calls during her shift.”

Ms Will added, “She would ask about my experience as a patrol officer and administrator from my previous career and the transition to my current position, to help her form her own path in her chosen career.” Ms Will formerly was a captain at the Brookfield Police Department.

Ms Will noted that it became clear through their talks that Ms Clark’s true passion is law enforcement.