Date: Wed 17-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-Frank-Sperling-Cacace

Full Text:

with cut: Town Hires Three New Police Officers

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Police Commission has hired three new officers who will be entering the

state's Municipal Police Training Academy in Meriden for law enforcement

training before being sworn in as patrolmen.

Newly hired are: Jason Frank, 24, Patricia Sperling, 25, and Dan Cacace, 23.

Mr Frank, originally from Long Island, now lives in Sandy Hook. A graduate of

Niagara University, he majored in criminal justice and criminology. Following

college, he worked in construction.

Mr Frank said he distributed resumes in the New England region in seeking a

police post. He said he likes flexibility and change in an outdoor working

environment, qualities which lend themselves to police work. He said he looks

forward to working different shifts.

Mr Frank began his college studies with a major in education. A soccer player,

he enjoys sports, animals and reading.

Ms Sperling of Stratford, is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State

University in New Haven. She has an associates degree in human services and a

bachelors degree in social work.

Ms Sperling said she has had an abiding interest in law enforcement. Her

uncles served as police officers. She said she likes to work in

community-based settings. Following college, she worked for a health insurance

company.

Ms Sperling will become the town's second female police officer. She said

women are as well-suited as men to police work.

Mr Cacace of New Fairfield is a graduate of Hesser College in Manchester, NH,

where he majored in criminal justice and corrections.

He has worked a state Department of Environmental Protection patrolman at

Squantz Pond and as a child care worker in New York State.

Mr Cacace said his grandfather and uncle served as policemen. Mr Cacace said

he developed an interest in police work when he participated in an educational

program on law enforcement while in high school.

"I want to be a contributor to our society by helping people," he said.

The police recruits are slated to start at the Police Academy on May 28. After

16 weeks of training, they will be sworn in as officers and receive an

additional 60 days of field training in Newtown, said Detective Robert

Tvardzik.

The police department's training officers are Joseph Joudy, Dominick Salvatore

and Clayton Brown. The training officers accompany the recruits on patrols,

explaining police procedures and practices to the recruits.

Two of the three new officers will be filling vacancies created by the

retirement of Detective Harry Noroian and the resignation of Patrolman Robert

Jersey. One new officer will step into a new position created by the

federally-funded COPS FAST program.