Frank Appointed To Detective Post

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission has appointed Jason Frank to the position of detective.

On the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Kehoe, Police Commission members earlier this month named Mr Frank to the post. The appointment takes effect April 1. The commission selected Mr Frank from a field of five officers competing for the job.

Mr Frank has served as the police department’s school resource officer at Newtown High School since the fall of 2001.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s a goal come true,” Mr Frank, 31, said recently of his upcoming duties as a detective.

While serving as a patrol officer in the past, Mr Frank was involved in some major investigations, including the July 1999 Sandy Hook street corner shooting death of Jason Gowdy, and the March 2000 robbery of Fleet Bank on Queen Street.

Mr Frank has attended several police schools to study detective work. He also worked as a detective for a six-month term in the past.

Mr Frank said he has learned much from his work with Detective Sergeant Robert Tvardzik, Detective Joe Joudy, and Detective Robert Koetsch.

Of Mr Frank’s appointment, Det Sgt Tvardzik said, “He’s a very capable and thorough police officer. I think he’ll do an excellent job in his position.”

Mr Frank joined the police department in 1996. In 2000, for six months, Mr Frank worked as a police patrol officer in Danbury. He later returned to a police patrol position in Newtown. The Newtown police post offered better prospects for career advancement, he said.

Mr Frank said he will be learning much as he makes the transition to detective. As a detective, he will handle cases involving bad checks, illegal credit card use, Internet crime, identity theft, crime scene investigations, forensics, and evidence collection. The detective division handles complex, long-term investigations. Detective work involves collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.

Of his desire to solve crimes, Mr Frank said, “I want to figure out what happened and why it happened [through] first-hand analysis.”

Mr Frank said he is especially interested in forensic techniques, including the analysis of hair, blood, and fingerprints, plus ballistics.

Mr Frank said the school resource officer position is a good job, adding that he will be sorry to depart from that work at Newtown High School. He said he has learned much from interacting with the 1,500 students at the high school.

There will be much new material to master while working as a detective, Mr Frank said. He said he plans to continue studying investigatory techniques.

“The whole job is a learning experience…I’ve got a lot to learn,” he said.

 A 1995 graduate of Niagara University in New York, Mr Frank played soccer and lacrosse in college, while obtaining a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and criminology, with a minor in English. He is originally from Long Island. Mr Frank is married and lives in the area.