Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Middletown police outline hiring push, academy start date and larger agility test to fill vacancies
Summary
Police Chief told commissioners the department has seven sworn vacancies (budgeted at 75), has scheduled a police academy to start Nov. 17, plans a large agility test on Nov. 8 for ~120 candidates and recently hired a full-time dispatcher starting Sept. 8.
The Middletown Police Department told the commission it is pursuing an immediate hiring push to fill seven sworn vacancies. The chief said the department is budgeted for 75 sworn positions and currently has 68 on staff, and that interviews for police officer candidates would be held that evening.
The chief provided a timeline for onboarding and training. “If we do decide to hire this evening, people that do need to go to the police academy, that police academy will start on November 17,” the chief said, and added the department would like hires to start by Nov. 10 to allow a week for onboarding prior to the academy.
The department reviewed recent recruitment activity: an agility test on Sept. 27 had 2 of 10 participants show up (both passed), and civil service sent about 120 invitations for a larger agility test planned for Nov. 8 that the chief said will include bilingual testing slots and aim to reduce makeups and repeat testing.
Chief also announced a recent hire for the communications team: Natalie Torres, a city resident, started Sept. 8 as a full-time dispatcher and is completing onboarding and training.
The commission moved into an executive session later in the meeting for candidate interviews; no hiring votes were recorded in public session.
