Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-patrol-officers-hiring

Full Text:

Police Department Seeks More Patrol Officers

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The police department is seeking to hire three new people to fill patrol

officer vacancies, said Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr.

The rate of starting pay for patrol officers after July 1 is $30,377 annually.

In the last round of the department's hiring process, a conditional offer of

employment was made to one man, but he chose not to take the post, Chief

Lysaght said.

That man initially had accepted the offer, but changed his mind when he was

offered a promotion where he now works.

Because no one was hired during the last candidate selection process, a new

hiring process will begin, the chief said.

Becoming a police officer includes a 16-week training course at the state's

Municipal Police Academy, as well as a 14-week on-the-job training period

during which police familiarize themselves with Newtown under the guidance of

field training officers. After they complete their in-house and field

training, new officers are assigned to the patrol division as probationary

officers for one year.

To fill the three vacancies, town police plan to use the services of the

Municipal Police and Fire Registry, a Danbury organization that helps place

candidates in law enforcement and firefighting jobs.

In working with the registry, the town won't require that job candidates have

municipal police officer certification, Chief Lysaght said.

During the most recent hiring process, approximately 20 people sought to

become town police officers, but none was hired.

Last Hires

In the hiring of three new officers late last year, town police sought and

hired officers who were certified as municipal police officers.

Last January, police officers Dana Schubert, Thomas Candia, Jr, and William

Hull took their oaths of office.

Each of the those patrol officers had a law enforcement background, and thus

already had attended the state's police academy for municipal police officers,

allowing them to immediately start their local police training.

The police hiring process includes psychological testing, polygraph testing, a

physical examination, cardio-vascular stress testing, an interview by the

Police Commission, and an interview by a panel composed of three police

department members, among other requirements.

Mr Schubert, a Newtown resident, was a patrol division sergeant at Western

Connecticut State University in the Danbury Police Department until he retired

after 20 years of service.

Mr Candia and Mr Hull formerly worked as part-time patrolmen in Westport.

The town police department now has 36 sworn officers. When up to its full

complement, it has 39 officers.