A Police Officer Gets A Law Degree

By Andrew Gorosko

Robert Koetsch is a man who wears many hats. He has added yet another to his collection.

Mr Koetsch, a Newtown police officer who joined the force almost eight years ago, recently passed the state bar examination. The daunting 12-hour test plumbs the depths of its takers’ legal knowledge, determining whether, after having received their law degrees, they meet the requirements to practice law.

Mr Koetsch is the first town police officer to become certified as a lawyer.

Besides his legal certification, Mr Koetsch is the police department’s school resource officer at Newtown High School, attached to the department’s detective bureau.

He also serves as one of the department’s two motor vehicle accident reconstructionists.

The 34-year-old officer also is the president of the Newtown Police Union, representing union members in grievances and also negotiating work contracts on their behalf.

Of the bar examination, which he took February 28 and March 1, Mr Koetsch said, “It’s a challenging test. It was the hardest test I’ve ever taken.”

Of the years he has spent since 1997 studying law, Mr Koetsch said, “Everything comes down to passing the bar exam.” The test consists of 200 multiple-choice questions and 12 essays.

Mr Koetsch, who will participate in graduation ceremonies Sunday, May 13, at Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, completed his law degree requirements at the end of the Fall 2000 semester. Mr Koetsch also has a master’s degree in forensics and a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement from the University of New Haven.

Reflecting on several years of work to obtain his law degree and legal certification, Mr Koetsch said it was worth all the effort involved.

He said he hopes to work simultaneously as a police officer and also as a private lawyer restricted to handling civil matters. Such an arrangement would be practical if he works as a legal subcontractor, he said.

Besides him, there were two other students in his law class who are police officers, Mr Koetsch said.

The time pressures of studying to be a lawyer, while also working full time as a police officer, taught him the discipline of time management, he said. On his days off work, he would spend time studying in a law library, he said.

“I always wanted to go to law school,” he said.

Mr Koetsch’s wife, Suzanne, also is a lawyer. Mrs Koetsch, who specializes in juvenile law and educational law, passed the bar exam in 1997.

Mr Koetsch said he is interested in practicing law on copyright protection and trademarks. He said he feels he has a natural inclination toward that field, which is broad in its scope.

“Within the next several years, I would plan to become a full-time attorney,” Mr Koetsch said. He said that working as a police officer with a law background will allow him to better assist people in law enforcement matters.

“I’ve always liked the law. I like formulating the arguments. I like underdogs,” Mr Koetsch said. He said he would eventually like to work as a private criminal defense attorney.

Doing good work, representing clients fairly, and displaying legal ability are the components of building a good reputation as a lawyer, he said.