The Riverhead Police Department has a fresh face among its rank and file.
Officer Mark Weiss of Riverhead was sworn in Wednesday as the department’s newest full-time police officer.
Weiss has been working as a part-time cop in Riverhead since June, Police Chief David Hegermiller said.
He fills a vacancy left by the retirement in October of Officer Dana Lefebvre.
Weiss, 28, was employed as a part-time officer in the Village of Sag Harbor Police Department before coming to Riverhead, the chief said. He was raised in Westhampton and graduated from Westhampton High School, Hegermiller said.
Riverhead still has seven more vacancies to fill, the Town Board added seven new police officers to the department with the 2023 operating budget.
Hegermiller said the town is working its way through the local — Town of Riverhead residents only — list of police officer candidates published by the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service. The eligible candidates are grouped according to test scores. The hiring agency starts canvasing the list at the top, with the highest scoring candidates, those who scored 95-100. Hegermiller said Riverhead has canvassed the top tier and is beginning to begin with the next tier, 90-94. There are more than 100 Riverhead candidates in that tier.
It’s a lengthy and time-consuming process, the chief said. It begins with an orientation session, continues with a psychiatric exam and an extensive background check. The last step is an interview with the chief and the Town Board personnel committee.
All police officers — including part-timers — must be hired from the list, the chief said. The only is a transfer from one department to another, a relatively rare occurrence that requires the approval of the governing bodies of both municipalities, he said.
Using a local town list significantly whittles down the number of candidates. Using a countywide list, rather than one limited to Riverhead Town residents, would mean dealing with a group of candidates in the 90-94 tier comprising well over 1,000 candidates, rather than a group comprising over 100, Hegermiller said.
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