Waiting in the Wings: Applicants for Vacant Police Positions Vetted

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Springfield, Vermont’s Town Manager Jeff Mobus recently updated the town’s selectboard on the ongoing hiring process for the town’s police department.

According to Mobus, roughly 43 applications for Police Chief, 15 of which appear to be highly qualified candidates, and 20 applications for patrol officers came to the town recently. The Springfield Police Department cited advertising for the positions on the popular job posting website “Indeed.com” helped to gain more recognition for the need for officers in the town.

The Town of Springfield has been dealing with a shortage of law enforcement officials lately, requiring citizens to utilize an “on-call” police department. Between the hours of 10 PM and 7 AM, there has recently not been officers on patrol, which citizens cited as a suspected reason for the increase of violent crime in the town. Should these new applicants make it through the rigorous hiring process, the town would be able to fill its vacancies.

“We are still utilizing the on-call service as much as we can. A big part of that though is trying to work around the abundance of overtime and the abundance of work our officers are facing,” said Vermont State Representative, and Chairman of the Springfield Selectboard, Kristi Morris.

Springfield’s Police Chief, Mark Fountain, as well as Lieutenant Patrick Call had previously announced that they were expecting to depart from the town’s police department in December. Recently, both law enforcement officials announced that they would be moving their date of departure to September, which will require the town to fill those positions as well. A hiring committee for the new police chief has been finalized and will include six citizens, one non-resident member of the police union, and Trevor Whipple, who serves as the Law Enforcement Risk Management Consultant for Vermont League of Cities and Towns.

“We decided to change our dates to go sooner knowing they had their process in play,” Chief Fountain said of the ongoing hiring process for a new Chief.

The hiring and training process for potential new recruits can take up to several months. If they have not been previously certified, they will be required to take the academy entrance exam, as well as pass the physical agility test. A board of civilians and law enforcement agents would then interview the candidates. They would also be subject to a full background check, as well as a polygraph test. An interview with the Chief and Lieutenant could result in a recommendation of employment, at which point they may receive a conditional offer of employment which would be subject to a drug screening. They would then receive academy training as well as department training.

“You know it’s a really rigorous process that can be rather lengthy. We can’t just turn the keys over to anyone, it typically takes about nine months,” Chief Fountain said of the hiring process.

According to Morris, he has spoken with Mobus about the town’s contact with the state police academy in regard to receiving waivers for potential hires from outside of the state of Vermont. There was also the potential for the Springfield Police Department to work along with outside agencies to help with the staff shortage but according to Morris, “After some conversations with Mr. Whipple, we discovered there was some concern about which town or agency would be held accountable. With the different policies of different police departments things like that could quickly become an issue. So, at this time, I don’t believe we are necessarily following up with that and relying on outside agencies more than we have to or already do.”