Fuchs To Become Redding Police Chief

REDDING –– The Redding Board of Selectman has approved Douglas S. Fuchs of Newtown to become the town’s new police chief.

At a regularly scheduled board meeting on June 17, the selectmen approved a three-year contract with Mr Fuchs, who has been with the Ridgefield Police Department for 10 years, the last six in the position of lieutenant.

Selected from an original pool of more than 70 applicants, Mr Fuchs will be the first police chief for the town of Redding. The town previously participated in the State Police Resident Trooper Program but residents voted overwhelmingly on February 5 in favor of an ordinance creating the position of chief of police. The chief will serve as a department head, reporting to the board and to the first selectman.

Mr Fuchs will be sworn in on July 1, assuming the position at that time.

“Redding is very fortunate to have found exactly the candidate we envisioned when we created this position,” said First Selectman Natalie Ketcham. “Doug Fuchs has been an exemplary police office, and we are confident of his ability to become the same kind of chief.”

Mr Fuchs graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Brandeis University and is scheduled to receive a master’s degree in justice and law administration from Western Connecticut State University later this year. He received the Ridgefield Police Department Exceptional Service Award in 2000 and 2002, and was recently an award recipient in the 2002 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) annual Appreciation Awards Ceremony in Meriden.