Police Chief James Viadero said December 13 that police, by the end of this month, plan to interview 26 candidates who are seeking to fill one existing vacancy for the position of patrol officer.

The Police Commission plans to hire a new patrol officer to bring the police department's roster up to a full complement of 45 sworn officers. In the past, police staffing had risen as high as 47 officers, but budget cutbacks have reduced that number to 45 people.

Chief Viadero told Police Commission members on December 6 that the 26 people will be interviewed as part of the lengthy review process that police use in hiring new officers. Those candidates have passed a written examination, which is the first step in the hiring process.

Other components of the hiring process include personal background checks, a polygraph test, a physical exam, and an agility test, plus more interviews.

In the past, the police department conducted its own police officer candidate written testing process to find new staff members. But more recently, town police have been reviewing centralized pools of candidates seeking patrol officer posts.

The chief said he expects the Police Commission to select the new officer by late February, adding that the town police department has reserved a seat for that person at the Bridgeport Police Academy, which is sponsored by Bridgeport Police Department. Police cadets attend the police academy for nearly six months to gain basic law enforcement training. After such training, new officers patrol in tandem with field training officers before starting to work independently.

The police officer vacancy was created by the recent departure of Joe Rios, who retired from his post as captain to take a civilian position in the area of preparedness/security with the Norwalk public school system.

Mr Rios's departure has resulted in three planned promotions at the police department.

The Police Commission has named Lieutenant Christopher Vanghele to the position of captain. The commission also has named School Resource Officer Liam Seabrook to the post of sergeant. It is expected that the commission will name a current sergeant to the position of lieutenant in January.

Police officials plan to hold a public event in January at which at which the new captain, lieutenant, and sergeant will be promoted and sworn into office at their respective new ranks.

The three promotions mark the most extensive changes in the police hierarchy in many years.