Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Middletown police outline staffing changes, recruitment push and new training initiatives
Summary
The police department reported four sworn vacancies, recent resignations and retirements, a May 3 civil service exam, and a slate of training and community programs including a youth leadership session and new in-field language devices.
At the March 20 Middletown Police Commission meeting, department staff updated commissioners on staffing levels, recent departures and recruitment plans, and described recent and planned training and community outreach programs.
As of the meeting, the department reported 71 sworn personnel, leaving four vacancies against a 2025 budgeted strength of 75. The presenter said three officers were in field training, one was on long-term illness, and two had been deployed with the National Guard — one of whom had just returned and the other expected back the following Saturday.
Since the last meeting the department said Officer Marcello Chazapenta resigned effective March 4 to take a position with the Peekskill Police Department; Police Officer Kelly Conklin notified the department she plans to leave for the Dobbs Ferry Police Department with an anticipated end date of March 25; and Detective DeYoung will retire next Thursday after more than 20 years, though the department said he will return to work part time for downtown and bicycle patrols.
The department said police officers Rivera and Diaz graduated from the police academy on March 7, and Officer Diaz received the academy’s physical fitness award. Dispatcher Nicole Mata Tamaro, who has been on staff a little over a year, told the department she will leave in April to become a police officer in the town of Crawford; the department said it is pursuing a candidate from the current civil service list to fill the dispatch vacancy.
Recruitment plans include a civil service police exam scheduled for May 3 and an agility test for eligible candidates on April 12. The presenter said the department will run the written exam every two years going forward.
The commission also heard a list of recent training attended by department personnel, including instructor development, workplace harassment training, PPE and incident command instruction, open-source intelligence training, juvenile law overview, human trafficking and narcotics investigations, active-shooter response instruction, and a New York State Police Intelligence Summit. The presenter singled out the summit because one speaker was a formerly incarcerated individual who had carried out a school shooting and now speaks about the causes of that violence.
The department has also begun community-facing initiatives: the spring Youth Leadership Program started Feb. 26 with 28 participants and meets Wednesday evenings at the police academy building; the department is using a grant-funded digital sign at rotating locations to advertise recruitment and local events; and it purchased 10 handheld electronic language translators (the presenter said each supports 144 languages and dialects and cost under $200 apiece) to deploy to patrol officers and around City Hall.
Commissioners did not take formal action on staffing changes during the public portion of the meeting; the presenter requested an executive session to discuss personnel matters later in the agenda.
