Officer Froehlich Promoted To Detective

By Andrew Gorosko

Police patrol officer Darlene Froehlich has been promoted to the rank of detective, a post in which she will specialize in criminal investigations for the police department.

On the recommendation of Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe, Police Commission members February 6 named Ms Froehlich to the detective bureau position, which she assumes Monday, February 12.

“I think she has a wealth of experience, is highly motivated, and has a good attitude,” Acting Chief Kehoe said of Ms Froehlich.

Ms Froehlich’s years of experience in the patrol division provides a good foundation for detective work, he said. She is a good investigator who follows through on cases and has a mind for detail, qualities that will serve her well in detective work, Acting Chief Kehoe said.

 Detectives do long-term investigations, perform follow-up work on cases begun by the patrol division, coordinate burglary investigations, and handle cases of check fraud, among various other duties.

Ms Froehlich, 42, has been a patrol officer since 1984. From 1980 to 1984, she worked as a town police radio dispatcher. She is the first woman to have joined the Newtown Police Department, and is now the first woman to be promoted within it.

“I think I’m going to have separation anxiety from my uniform,” Ms Froehlich quipped, noting that she has become quite accustomed to wearing a police uniform since she started as a patrol officer 17 years ago.

Working in plainclothes will be a different experience, as will the types of cases she handles, she said. “I’m enthusiastic.”

“It’ll be quite an educational experience… It’s going to be a new experience for me,” Ms Froehlich said, noting that she will encounter different types of situations as a detective than she has as a patrol officer.

“I have an idea what the job holds, but I think there’s going to be some surprises,” she said.

About a decade ago, Ms Froehlich was the police department’s representative on the state police’s Statewide Narcotics Task Force, an agency that investigates drug crimes throughout Connecticut. In that role, she learned surveillance techniques and investigatory back-up work.

“I’m a thorough person,” Ms Froehlich said, adding that former police chief Michael DeJoseph had characterized her as “tenacious.”

She believes that her sense of persistence and patience should prove beneficial qualities as a detective. The skills that she gained at police interview/interrogation school will expand when she receives additional investigatory training, both in-house and at police training schools, she said.

“Probably my best tool is my years of experience,” Ms Froehlich said.

 As a field training officer for the police department, she has guided police recruits as they learn patrol work. It takes at least five years of patrol work to become a well-rounded police officer, she said.

Ms Froehlich notes that when she started as a radio dispatcher in 1980, she was entering a new world. “I had no idea what I was stepping into,” she said. But through her contact with the law enforcement agency, she decided she wanted to do police work, and began to do so in 1984, becoming the town’s first female police officer.

With a bachelor’s degree in justice and law enforcement from Western Connecticut State University, Ms Froehlich has several police department awards, including the chief’s service award, education award, and the honorable and meritorious service award.

A divorced mother, Ms Froehlich has two sons, Joe, 14, and James, 7.

As the first woman police officer in Newtown, Ms Froehlich broke new ground in the organization,  opening the way for the four other female officers who were hired after her, she said. Three of those women are still with the Newtown department.

 Ms Froehlich said she hopes one day to eventually become a sergeant in the organization, serving as the department’s first female supervisor.