North Branford Police Welcome Officer Nicole Bernstein
Among a substantial pool of 150 applicants vying for an open officer's position with North Branford Police Department (NBPD), Nicole Bernstein rose to the top, said Police Chief Kevin Halloran.
"She impressed us from day one," said Halloran. "She just rose to the top, throughout the whole process."
Bernstein has a Bachelor's degree in Law Administration from Western Connecticut State University, Associate's degree in Criminal Justice from Norwalk Community College, and prior employment as a special police officer for Fairfield Police.
Monday, Sept. 20, marked Officer Bernstein's first day in her NBPD policing career. Halloran said she is the third female officer to be added to the NBPD officer roster since it began serving the town as a full-time police department in 1970. NPBD now has two female officers on the force, including Officer Kristen Fitzgerald. In all, NPBD has 23 sworn officers on the force, including the Chief and Deputy Chief positions. Officer Bernstein fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Lt. Cort Sperry.
Halloran said he was encouraged by the response of 150 applicants, a number which he said has been "...untypical in today's environment when recruiting police officers."
"Recruiting is a problem all over the state, and I believe all over the country," said Halloran, adding, "...with the lack of people trying to get into this profession, I find it interesting that more women are trying to get into this male-dominated field."
Deputy Chief James Lovelace also credits Halloran with developing strong recruitment which drew a diverse pool of enthusiastic applicants for the position.
"I think Chief Halloran has put a strong emphasis on our recruitment package, and really changing the way we do it here," said Lovelace. "With the package we put together this time, the applicants were probably one of the most diverse populations we've had apply, ever, reaching all the way down to New Jersey [applicants] driving up to take the testing. From what we're hearing around the shoreline area, we're actually getting more people here applying for this job than they're getting for applicants applying with departments twice- or five-times our size."
Due to fewer openings currently available for required training at the state's Police Academy, Officer Bernstein will head to a satellite police academy in New Britain for training, which begins October 22. Meanwhile, with an increase in officer field training time recently imposed by the state on police departments, she will have the benefit of beginning some required in-house training with NBPD this week, said Halloran.
"She'll get a little bit ahead of the curve," said Halloran. "We'll be able to work with her with on orientation and policy reviews, as well as some ride-alongs with the officers to get her acquainted with what we do."
Officer Bernstein is anticipated to be on the road as a member of the NBPD force by early April 2022.