Police Department Casts A Wider Net For New Recruits

By Andrew Gorosko

The police department has received 131 job applications from people seeking to fill three patrol officer positions.

Detective Sergeant Henry Stormer said Wednesday police received many of those job applications Tuesday. Between late Tuesday morning and 8 pm, which was the deadline for submitting applications, police received 57 completed forms.

Police had given out 403 application forms. The police department’s hiring Web site on the Internet had received 633 contacts by the public in recent weeks, Sgt Stormer said.

Sgt Stormer said he expects that about 95 percent of the people who applied for the patrol officer posts have taken police hiring tests elsewhere.

Sgt Stormer operates the police department’s hiring unit with Detective Joe Joudy.

It appears that a wider range of people have applied for the jobs than have done so during past rounds of police hiring, the sergeant said. It appears that a higher proportion of college students and minority group members have applied for the jobs than previously, he noted.

In the past, the department had used the services of the Municipal Police and Fire Registry, a Bethel-based testing service, to provide it with lists of job candidates. The department has opted to conduct its own written testing to increase the pool of job candidates, Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe has said.

Sgt Stormer said he expects that more than 100 people will take the town’s written test for patrol officer. He said he expects that more than half the people taking that test will pass it and then take an agility test.

“I need three people hired by October,” Sgt Stormer said. The department currently has 36 officers. It is authorized to have up to 40 officers. If a second school resource officer post is authorized, the complement would rise to 41 officers.

The three new patrol officers hired by the Police Commission would enter the police academy by October, undergo police training, return to the police department for on-the-road training, and be full-fledged officers who patrol independently by the middle of next year.

The job application form runs for 24 pages, going into exhaustive detail on personal information, relatives, references, roommates, education, experience, past employment, military history, criminal background, motor vehicle information, financial information, and illegal drug use.

For the job candidates who pass the July 31 written testing and pass a round of agility testing on August 9, initial oral interviews will be held on August 11.

Candidates who progress through the hiring process also are subject to psychological testing, lie detector testing, and background checks.

The starting pay for new patrolmen is $34,848. The pay rises to $47,028 in a five-year progression to top patrolman salary. Insurance coverage is Blue Cross/Blue Shield Century Preferred with a $27.50 biweekly co-payment by the employee. Pension benefits are provided. Employees contribute five percent of their base pay to the pension plan. Officers receive paid holidays, paid vacation, a cleaning and clothing allowance, educational incentives, longevity pay, sick leave, and overtime pay.