Taylor Rando became the first female officer hired in many years for the Shelter Island Police Department following probationary approval at a special meeting of the Town Board on Tuesday.
[Editor’s Note: We initially reported this was the SIPD’s first female officer — women were hired by the department many years ago, but none have served lately. We apologize for the error!]
The board adopted a resolution to hire Rando — who has served a four summers as a Traffic Control Officer. Shelter Island Police Chief James J. Read said she had originally applied to be a part-time officer and was fully vetted by the Suffolk County applicant investigation process and passed all Civil Service requirements.
But last year, the Suffolk County Police Department decided against holding an academy for part-time officers due to COVID-19, Read said. Rando was poised to serve SIPD as a TCO again this summer.
The police academy recently notified Read that it had room for a full-time officer for Shelter Island in the newly-forming class of recruits. But given budget constraints, Read said he could not commit to adding a new full-time officer, even though hiring a female officer was a top priority of the recently concluded state-mandated Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative task force
That changed, Read said, when learned late last week that one of his senior officers will be retiring in January. Further boosting the capacity for a mid-year hire was word from Suffolk County that it would be restoring to the Town about $80,000 in public safety aid funds that had been cut as a result of anticipated pandemic shortfalls.
“So I strongly recommended to the Board that we try to fill that position,” Read said.
Rando was among the top three candidates for a full-time position with the department based on her test results, Read said. Civil Service rules require the department to recruit officers from among the top scorers.
The academy class is just starting now, so Rando will not be eligible “to work the road until January,” Read said. But the hire ensures that when the other officer retires, “we’re not one officer behind.”
“In a small department, as you know, the loss of one officer can have a significant impact to our operation,” Read said.
Several SIPD officers are capable of retiring, he said, noting that he expects another officer may soon announce retirement. “I didn’t want to go down by two in the short term.”
“I think it’s an excellent opportunity to address one of the things that was prevalent in the Police Reform and Reinvention [recommendations],” he said. “For me, it’s a win-win for us to fill that gap that we have in service and also replace an officer.”
Rando, a member of the Shelter Island High School Class of 2015, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Darmouth with a bachelor of science degree in Fashion Design. She transferred there after Mount Ida College.
By resolution, the Town Board voted to hire her as a probationary officer effective April 26. The annual rate of pay is $66,120.87. She’ll spend the next six months in training at the police academy in Brentwood with 119 other recruits from departments throughout Suffolk County.
