Police Screen Candidates

 For Patrol Jobs

By Andrew Gorosko

The police department plans to conduct physical agility testing for a new pool of job applicants seeking to fill two police patrol officer positions.

 Police Chief Michael Kehoe said the department will conduct the physical agility tests November 10 at Newtown High School in seeking to find the best candidates for the two positions.

The police department gave a written test for the posts on November 3 at the high school 100 people took the test. The 40 job candidates who did best on the written test will be eligible to take the physical testing. Of those who took the written test, 77 people passed it.

Besides the pool of candidates who are not certified as police officers, the police department has a separate pool of 10 people whose members are already certified as police officers and who are interested in becoming Newtown patrol officers, Chief Kehoe said.

It is the second time that the police department has conducted its own hiring process for new patrol officers. In an initial hiring process, which started last year, the department developed a pool of job candidates, from which it eventually hired six new patrol officers.

The department currently has 41 sworn officers. It is currently authorized to have 42 officers, but as of January 1, 2002, it will be authorized to have 43.

Chief Kehoe said he hopes the two new patrol officers are hired by February, adding the police department is streamlining its hiring process to make it flow more smoothly.

A three-page initial job application replaces a former initial 26-page application. Candidates who progress through the application process will eventually get to fill out the 26-page form. Police use a 26-page form to gather information on applicants for personal background checks.

The starting pay for a new patrol officer is currently $36,611. After five years’ of service, the pay rises to $50,396.

Applicants who progress past the physical testing will receive oral interviews from a panel of police officers, psychological testing, polygraph testing and interviews by the Police Commission, in a process that finds the people best suited for police work.