A New Police Officer

And A Dream Fulfilled

By Andrew Gorosko

Andrew Stinson has wanted to be a police officer since he was five years old. On Tuesday, he achieved that long-held goal. With family and friends looking on, Mr Stinson took the oath of office.

Town Clerk Cynthia Curtis Simon administered the oath as Jill Stinson, who is Mr Stinson’s recent bride, held the Holy Bible. Police Chief Michael Kehoe looked on.

In remarks after the ceremony, Chief Kehoe said police work can be both a rewarding and frustrating experience.

The chief urged Mr Stinson to never lose sight of his goals and ideals, and to keep them as the motivating force in his law enforcement career. Mr Stinson has the tools and skills needed to succeed in law enforcement, the chief said.

Mr Stinson is the sixth police officer the town has hired since last October. The others are Robert Daubert, Thomas Bean, Renee Forte, Steven Santucci, and Michael McGowan. All six officers were selected from a pool of candidates created by the police department through a testing process conducted in August 2000. Mr Stinson becomes the 41st officer in the department, which is authorized to have up to 43 sworn officers.

Mr Stinson, 25, of Danbury, said his becoming a police officer has proved a long process, but he has finally reached his goal. He said he looks forward to the interesting work of law enforcement.

Mr Stinson formerly worked as an investigator for the state’s Department of Children and Families. In that work, he investigated cases involving the neglect and abuse of children, with the goal of providing help to children who face difficult family situations.

Mr Stinson said he eventually would like to become a police detective.

Born in Goshen, N.Y., Mr Stinson moved to Danbury in 1991. A graduate of Danbury High School, he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western Connecticut State University in 1998.

Mr Stinson is the brother-in-law of Phil Hynes, who is a patrol officer with the Newtown Police Department. Mr Stinson’s father-in-law, who also is known as Phil Hynes, is a sergeant with the Trumbull Police Department.

Mr Stinson’s father, the Rev James Stinson, formerly was the minister at Danbury Methodist Church. Rev Stinson now presides at Norwalk Methodist Church.

Following his police training at the police academy, Mr Stinson will return to Newtown late this year for on-the-road training, after which he will patrol independently.

The police department plans to start a new testing process to find people to fill the two remaining patrol officer vacancies.