Newtown Police Lieutenant to Work as Brookfield Dispatcher in Retirement

Newtown police Lieutenant James Mooney has retired from his post to start a job as a civilian dispatcher with Brookfield police, officials said.

The 25-year department veteran retired from Newtown on Saturday and is to start in Brookfield on Wednesday.

It's a job Mooney knows quite well, having started off working as a dispatcher in Newtown before becoming a police officer.

"He's going back to his roots," Brookfield police Major Jay Purcell said. "In retirement, he was looking to stay involved, to stay connected."

Mooney, who could not be reached for comment, started work as a Newtown police officer when he was 19 years old. Upon his retirement, he will qualify for full benefits, which translates to about 56-percent of his average salary over the past three years, said Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe, adding he was not surprised at Mooney's decision.

"He's young and he was looking for a second career," Kehoe said. "He'll be missed…You don't rise to the level that he did without being talented."

Mooney earned a base salary of $81,834, not including overtime, in Newtown while his base salary in Brookfield will be about half as much — $43,821, not including holiday pay and other benefits, officials said.

After working a certain number of years that qualifies them for full retirement benefits, many police officers will decide to make a career move, though it's unusual for a lieutenant to switch to dispatching.

At the same time, the change is somewhat reminiscent of a couple of years ago when Maureen Will left the Brookfield police department where she was the captain, to become head of Newtown's Emergency Communications Center, Purcell said.

"It's kind of an exchange program," Purcell quipped.

Interest in the Brookfield position was unusually high this year with the department receiving well more than 80 applications, Purcell said, adding that the faltering economy probably played a role.

The applicant pool ranged from people with years of dispatching experience to professionals in other fields looking for a new career, he said.

"It was interesting the diversity of background," Purcell said. "There was a whole variety."

Mooney, who had kept up his certifications, was one of eight applicants invited for final interviews.

"He interviewed very well," Purcell said.

Kehoe said the Newtown department has already begun advertising the open lieutenant position, which under the department's collective bargaining agreement, can only be filled internally by a Newtown sergeant with two or more years of experience. That means seven out of the eight sergeants in the department can apply for the job.

Kehoe said two sergeants have already expressed interest, and he would expect the position to be filled before the end of the year. The department would have to contract out for a test to be customized to Newtown's needs.

"We always like to gear it to what our lieutenants do here," Kehoe said.

Mooney was the department's administrative lieutenant, which means he was in charge of records, scheduling, training and accreditation.

Simultaneous to naming a lieutenant, the department will look to promote an officer to the rank of sergeant, Kehoe said.

The department promoted Domenic Costello to sergeant about a year ago, and from that process, a list of qualified candidates was created that can be reused this time around, Kehoe said. The top three candidates from that list will be invited to interview with the Police Commission and from there one will be chosen, Kehoe said.

The promotion process will leave a police officer vacancy that officials will look to fill, but probably not in the short-term because money to advertise and test is not in the department's budget, Kehoe said. The department also could decide to hire a police officer from another municipality, which would alleviate the need to test but might result in higher salary requirements, he said.

Newtown now has 45 sworn officers, though two are out on leave due to surgery.