In anticipation of hiring additional police officers, the Newtown Police Department is gearing up its police hiring process, Police Chief Michael Kehoe said this week.

Chief Kehoe said that the police department would be aided by the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) in the police officer hiring process.

The police department’s website explains that the Newtown Police Department is accepting job applications from people who are currently certified to be police officers in Connecticut, either municipal police or state police.

Such job applicants must have completed a successful one-year police probationary period and currently be employed in Connecticut as police, either full-time or part-time, or have recently retired as a municipal police officer or a state trooper in Connecticut.

It is expected that sometime soon, the police department would broaden its request for job applicants to include the general public.

On Tuesday, April 23, the town will hold a budget referendum for the 2013-14 fiscal year. After a budget is approved, police hiring plans are expected to proceed.

 In anticipation of hiring new officers, Chief Kehoe said he expects that the written test for police officers would be held sometime in June.

It is thought that the police department would hire three or four additional officers in the 2013-14 fiscal year. 

The police department has 45 sworn members, which is its current full complement. It formerly had 47 members, but the authorized number of officers dropped to 45 by attrition during the past several years.

Police Commission members initially had requested that the police department add 11 new members to the police force in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The anticipated addition of new officers comes in the wake of public requests for added police staffing to improve safety at local schools in light of 12/14.

In the police hiring process, based on interviews, the Police Commission develops a list of job candidates who receive conditional offers of employment, provided that those candidates meet applicable hiring standards.

Potential employees are subject to medical examinations, psychological testing, polygraph tests, and personal background checks. The lengthy police hiring process is designed to find the people who are best suited for police work.

After their hiring, new police officers attend the Connecticut Municipal Police Academy in Meriden and then undergo local field training before beginning independent patrol work.