REPD to Start Search for Third Patrol Officer

With in the ranks of the since February, Chief Thomas Cariddi broached the topic of beginning the search for a third patrol officer to fill an upcoming anticipated vacancy.

"We will have an anticipated vacancy we'll be facing in the future," Cariddi said. "My recommendation is to initiate a hiring procedual for a new officer. It would be an issue of staffing and a matter of economics. I could fill the position on a day-to-day basis and incure overtime exposure a great deal of the time. I would rather have an entry-level officer than expending a top salary officer with time-and-a-half overtime costs."

Accordng to Cariddi, the process from announcing the position to bringing candidates to the council would take approximately two months followed by several weeks once a candidate is hired to complete their training.

A new contract signed with the PBA allows for a lower starting salary and longer period of time to reach top pay, according to Cariddi. For a new patrol officer the starting salary would be $27,775 but once benefits are added it comes to $44,285 per officer.

For the past 12 years, the REPD has hired officers based on the alternate route where an applicant pays their own way through the academy.

"We have an officer out now who is recovering from shoulder surgery and it would be four to five months before he could return to full duty," Cariddi said. "I'm hopeful he can return to light duty in six to eight weeks."

The governing body unanimously approved Cariddi's request to being seraching for a patrol officer candidate through the alternate route.

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