History has been made at the Newtown Police Department. Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon said he didn’t know why the title of captain at the police department was never changed to “deputy chief,” even though there has been talk about it for years.

That change, which modifies Captain Bryan Bishop’s formal title to deputy chief and replaces the bars on his collar with a star, was approved by the commission at its June 6 meeting following a request from Police Chief David Kullgren. That rank has never previously existed at the local law enforcement agency.

Only Bishop’s title will change; there is no extra compensation, and his job duties as the department’s second-in-command will remain the same. The former captain title will be retired, and since the deputy chief position is not a contract position, no contractual issues are being affected.

Kullgren said the change had been discussed within the department before former Chief James Viadero departed, and it is “typical” for a department of Newtown’s size to have a deputy chief.

“I find myself often having to explain when people ask for my deputy chief that the captain is my second-in-command,” said Kullgren. “This helps the lay person and other law enforcement to understand that this person is the second-in-command. It gives authority to this person.”

Faxon said the idea of changing the position’s title has been floated on and off as long as he’s been serving on the commission, 12 years.

Bishop said that several other Connecticut departments have also done recent switches from having captains to having deputy chiefs; some departments also have personnel with the rank “major.” He said that Monroe is “one of the last bigger departments that still has a captain as a second-in-command.”

Commissioner Neil Chaudhary suggested discussing having a captain as well as a deputy chief, but Kullgren said the department will no longer have a person with the rank of captain. Kullgren said it was considered but the department’s current composition with four lieutenants is “working well.”

“I think this is a good idea,” said Faxon. “I don’t know why we have not done this already other than the fact that we’ve always had a captain. There’s no reason to stick to that other than that’s the way we’ve done it for 52 years. Congratulations to our new deputy chief.”

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.