Police Dept. Announces Promotions

Officer Robert Gagne

Four members of the University Police Department have been promoted, four former officers have asked to return to the force and four applicants are undergoing tests in hopes of filling department vacancies.

The department also plans to hire two additional dispatchers.

Robert Gagne has been promoted from sergeant to lieutenant; Richard St. Onge has been promoted from acting sergeant to sergeant; and senior patrolmen Chris Avey and Kenneth Spooner have been named acting sergeants.

Acting Chief Allan Roscoe says that of the four officers asking to return to the department, one is now working in municipal law enforcement and the other three are serving on college departments.

“This will be cost effective for us,” Roscoe says, “because they are fully trained and will be ready to assume their duties here as soon as they familiarize themselves with our new policies and procedures.”

The four applicants, he says, are all Criminal Justice graduates and are all from diverse racial backgrounds that will reflect the University enrollment and the surrounding community in which they will work. Once having passed the necessary evaluation and physical examinations, they will attend the Municipal Police Academy program in Reading, a course that lasts about 16 weeks.