Date: Fri 09-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-Rohbinson-Ferreira

Full Text:

Two New Officers Join The Police Force

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The Police Commission has hired two new patrol officers to fill vacancies in

the police department.

The new officers are Richard A. Robinson, 30, of Bethel, and Louis M.

Ferreira, 36, of Shelton.

The men were sworn into office in ceremonies Tuesday night at a Police

Commission meeting.

The commission had planned to hire a third man to fill a third police patrol

vacancy, but that man recently took a law enforcement job with the Norwalk

Police Department.

Mr Robinson is a 1993 graduate of Western Connecticut State University in

Danbury, where he received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a

specialty in forensic science.

Mr Robinson's father formerly served as a Bethel policeman. He has worked as a

fire scene photographer for the Bethel fire marshal's office. Mr Robinson, who

has worked in the security field, enjoys skiing, hiking, bicycling,

photography and computers. He is a 1987 graduate of Bethel High School.

Mr Ferreira holds a 1987 associates degree in business from Sacred Heart

University. He has attended the Bridgeport Engineering Institute and is a

graduate of Henry Abbott Regional Technical School in Danbury.

Mr Ferreira is a volunteer fireman in Shelton.

Messrs Robinson and Ferreira will be receiving orientation at the police

department for the next several days, after which they will begin attending

the state's Municipal Police Academy for a 20-week course in law enforcement,

said Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr.

Following their 20 weeks in the police academy, the probationary officers will

participate in a 14-week on-the-road training program here with the police

department's field training officers, the chief said.

Lt David Lydem heads the police training unit. It also includes Det Sgt Henry

Stormer, Joseph Joudy, Steve Kethchum, Michael Brokaw, Aaron Bahamonde and

John Cole.

As the new officers progress through their 14-week training period in Newtown,

they will familiarize themselves with local police work until they reach the

point where they are capable of handling patrol duties on their own, the chief

said.

The town uses the services of the Municipal Police and Fire Registry, a

Danbury-based clearinghouse which accumulates information on candidates for

police jobs at a cost to the candidate but at no cost to municipalities.

In Newtown, in order to be considered for a police department post, a

candidate must pass an extensive testing process, be the subject of a

background investigation, pass physical and psychological examinations, as

well as polygraph and agility testing, plus drug screening. The starting pay

is $30,377 annually, plus a benefits package.

With the hiring of the two new patrol officers, the police department has 37

officers of its authorized complement of 39 sworn officers.

New officers are on job probation for one year.