East Windsor fills vacancies with experienced police officers
By:Kory Loucks, Journal Inquirer
09/05/2006
EAST WINDSOR - The East Windsor Police Department has wasted no time in filling recent vacancies.
Police Chief Edward J. DeMarco Jr. said the department has hired three officers in the last three months who were full-time certified officers in other agencies.
The advantage of that is that the new police officers are able to get onto the front line quickly, rather than having to go through lengthy training.
The department has one more opening and is planning to hire an entry-level person who will have to go through training, DeMarco said.
The department received 103 applications for the job. That number fell to 59 after initial screening, and DeMarco predicted only half would pass physical tests. In addition, there are oral and medical tests.
Applicants came from all walks of life, according to DeMarco. Some had law enforcement degrees, while others had military and medical backgrounds.
East Windsor is competing with other towns for the best candidates, the chief said. "We are all in competition for officers," DeMarco said.
Some applicants prefer the smaller community because of the variety. At the East Windsor Police Department, "the officers wear a lot of different hats," DeMarco said.
The drawback is that there isn't a lot of room for advancement, such as becoming a detective or working in narcotics.
DeMarco said he hopes to hire the officer by December.
"Our intent this time is to get someone new to the profession to train and mold," DeMarco said.
The new recruits have to go to the police academy for 24 weeks and then have an additional 16 weeks of field training. "It is a very structured program," DeMarco said.
During the field training, a senior officer is with the new recruit for a minimum of 16 weeks. The new officer does more and more as the weeks progress, and the senior officer becomes just an observer at the end.
DeMarco said the additional officers are needed.
"We need at least three officers on the front line, minimum," DeMarco said.
Currently the minimum is two officers, which has been unchanged since the 1980s, according to DeMarco. "We are looking for a slow, controlled expansion," he said.
Some of the pressure has been relieved by having a full-time police officer assigned to the Mill Pond Village Apartment complex. The cost for the officer is paid for primarily by the management of Mill Pond, which has helped significantly.
"We can do things better too," said DeMarco. "We used 1,000 less gallons of gasoline last year, which was a 3 percent reduction, and we hope to be driving a little less this year, but we still went over budget because of the cost of gas," he added.
©Journal Inquirer 2006
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