Commission Fills Two Police Patrol Vacancies

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission has chosen two men to fill police patrolman vacancies – Michael McGowan, 27, of Middletown, and Thomas Bean, 25, of Watertown.

“They’re both very qualified candidates. We think they’ll do well… They have a genuine interest in law enforcement,” Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe said October 16. Both men have the proper demeanor to become police officers, he added.

“They can communicate. They’re good listeners… They are able to problem solve,” he said.

 In the current round of hiring, the town plans to select up to five people for patrol officer vacancies, he said.

The two men chosen so far were among the 131 people from whom the police department received job applications last summer. Police had given out 403 application forms. The Police Commission interviewed more than 30 job applicants.

Mr McGowan will be sworn in as an officer at the police department Friday, October 20. He is scheduled to start attending the Connecticut Municipal Police Academy in Meriden October 27.

Mr Bean will start work either November 13 or 20, and is expected to start attending classes at a police academy in Bridgeport on November 27, Acting Chief Kehoe said.

Mr McGowan grew up in Newtown, attending Sandy Hook School, Newtown Middle School, and Newtown High School.

A University of New Haven graduate, he has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and in the science of law enforcement. Mr McGowan, who is single, is currently is employed as a fitness consultant by Fitness Edge in Cromwell.

Mr McGowan is the son of Joseph McGowan, a former member of the Legislative Council.

Mr Bean has worked at the police department as a dispatcher since June 1999. Mr Bean, who is married, is a member of the Watertown Volunteer Fire Department. He has worked as a retail store manager. He is a graduate of Kaynor Regional Vocational Technical School in Waterbury and St Joseph’s Elementary School in Waterbury.

Police hope to hire another three patrol officers by November, Acting Chief Kehoe said.

Hiring a total of five people will bring the police department roster up from 36 to 41 members. As of January 1, 2001, the department will be authorized by the town to hire a 42nd officer.

The two men who have been hired, plus the three yet to be hired, will have been selected through the police department’s in-house hiring process. The Police Commission opted to conduct its own hiring process this year to attract more candidates to police jobs than had been available to it through a regional police job registry.

The in-house hiring process resulted in a large pool of job candidates, which is expected to be large enough to fill all five police vacancies, Acting Chief Kehoe said.

Besides written tests and physical fitness tests, job candidates who progress through the hiring process also are subject to psychological testing, lie detector testing, and background checks.

The starting annual salary for new patrol officers is $34,848.

After undergoing a week of orientation and indoctrination at the police department, newly hired officers spend 20 weeks in a police academy to get basic police training. When they return to Newtown, they spend 16 weeks in a field training program. Field training officers, who provide guidance in police work, accompany new officers on patrol.

The police department’s field training officers are Darlene Froehlich, Doug Wisentaner, and Dominick Salvatore. Sergeant John Cole coordinates field training.