Two Promoted in Police Department

A 17-year veteran of the Newtown police department was promoted to lieutenant while a 9-year officer was named sergeant following Tuesday night's Police Commission meeting.

Christopher Vanghele, 40, formerly the department's administrative sergeant,  and New Milford native David Kullgren, 40, received promotions to lieutenant and sergeant respectively.

The two, along with the two other lieutenant candidates and two other sergeant candidates, wore their dress uniforms and waited nervously in the hallway areas of the Parks and Recreation department Tuesday as the commission, along with Police Chief Michael Kehoe and Capt. Joe Rios, conducted final interviews and deliberated in executive session.

Once the interviews, which lasted about an hour, or 10 minutes for each candidate, were over, all six filed back into the commission's meeting room to await the outcome.

"I'm all proud of you," Commission Chairman Duane Giannini said prior to announcing the promotions.

The three lieutenant candidates had taken written and oral exams a few weeks earlier while the three sergeant candidates came off of a list that was created about a year and a half ago when the department last promoted an officer to sergeant.

Vanghele and Kullgren received the highest test scores, officials said, though under the union contract, the police commission has the discretion to promote any of the three top scorers. That is one reason the final interviews were held, officials said.

Giannini said the two candidates chosen interviewed well, and that their knowledge and the way they presented themselves reflected their high test scores.

Both had wide smiles when the promotions were announced. Vanghele joked as he left the building, "Do I seem taller?"

Kullgren, who specializes in accident reconstruction, has worked on traffic studies, is knowledgeable of the department's computer software and communications equipment and recently assisted Rios with a facilities study of the police department with the aim of highlighting the space inadequacies and gaining town support for a new police station.

Kullgren is married with five children and has an associate degree in engineering, bachelor's degree in graphic design and two years ago received a master's degree in criminal justice, criminal law administration and computer forensic administration.

"My goal is to make a positive changes for the town," he said Wednesday in an interview.

Vanghele was in a meeting and could not be reached for an interview.

The vacancies were created after Lt. James Mooney retired from the department to take a job dispatching for the Brookfield police department. The department now plans to fill the open officer spot but it could take awhile because it does not have the budget to test candidates for the position.

The only applicants the department could hire is someone already working at a police department somewhere else in the state, officials said.