Danbury hires 9 new police officers
DANBURY — Amid a welldocumented trend of hiring challenges faced by police departments across the state, the Danbury Police Department welcomed nine new officers to their ranks this week.
City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to confirm the hiring of the candidates at their meeting.
All of the new hires are socalled lateral transfers, meaning they are officers joining the Danbury Police Department after working as certified police officers with other agencies.
Six of the nine officers hired worked for the New York City Police Department prior to applying for their new jobs with Danbury police. The other three come to Hat City from Dekalb County, Ga., the New Orleans Police Department, and the city of Waterbury, respectively.
Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said the department was “excited” about adding the new officers, adding that there around eight entry level candidates currently undergoing background checks.
“What we are doing right now is we are trying to tackle this from all ends, both through the entry level process and the certified process,” he said.
Officers Kevin Jarrin, William Gillespie, Michael Brown, Jeffrey Pichardo, Justyn Revan and Abo Niang came from the NYPD, while Terence Lott worked for Waterbury police, Justin Orlanski came from New Orleans, and Angel Rodriguez was from Georgia.
Nationwide recruitment, retention challenge
Police recruitment and retention has been challenging throughout the nation, and some law enforcement experts have labeled the situation a crisis as retirements and resignations outpace hiring. A survey of police leaders across the U.S. last year found that resignations increased by 18 percent in 202021 compared with 2019-20. The Police Executive Research Forum survey, which garnered 194 responses, also found a 45 percent increase in retirements.
Law enforcement administrators also cite low unemployment and the variety of career choices available to young people as barriers to attracting quality candidates. Millennials and Generation Z — those born from 1981 to 2012 — are also more apt to value work-life balance than their Baby Boomer counterparts, according to a study on police recruitment by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Ridenhour explained how adding certified officers from other states results in a training schedule that takes “a fraction of the time” compared to entry level officers who must complete a full police academy program. For police officers joining Danbury’s department from another agency in Connecticut, they just need to “spend a few weeks on the street learning our streets, our systems, and then they are good to go.”
“We could get a certified officer from another state on the street within three months, as opposed to waiting seven months,” Ridenhour said.
“We are hoping we will get some more Connecticut certified applicants as we continue in the process as well,” he added.
While the training may differ, any candidate joining any police department in Connecticut must pass the same background check, which includes a psychological exam, a polygraph test, and medical and drug use screening.
For newly hired police officers certified in Connecticut or in another state, Ridenhour pointed to the elements of the state’s Police Accountability Law which require the department to check the officer’s disciplinary files and review any internal investigations conducted by the previous employer.
Other factors considered in the background checks include reviewing an individual’s credit history, driving history, and conducting reviews of references from prior employers.
“It’s a very comprehensive background check,” he said.
Attracting minority candidates
Adding numbers is not the only piece of the puzzle when it comes to the hiring process. The Connecticut Police Accountability Law also mandates that departments provide annual reports on efforts to attract, retain, and promote minority candidates.
Ridenhour underscored the importance of building diversity within the department’s ranks, noting that four of the nine newly hired officers this week are either Black or Hispanic and adding that another priority for the department means hiring more female officers.
He said the goal for the department is to employ 160 officers but most of the 128 police officers currently employed in Danbury are white men, according to the police chief. Nine officers are Black, 16 are Hispanic, including Spanish and Portuguese speakers, and the department currently employs 10 female officers.
“I think the more diverse our organization, the more it helps with how we relate to our community,” he said. “I think if they see diversity within our department, because we are a diverse city, it helps.”
“Regardless of the fact that we aren’t very diverse right now, we have established very good relationships with our community,” Ridenhour added.