An officer of the Fremont Police Department was promoted to sergeant earlier this month.
Dominic Savio was recognized at the Fremont City Council meeting on Jan. 14, where his promotion was approved.
“He’s just a hardworking guy,” Police Chief Jeff Elliott said. “He’s willing to put forth the extra effort, and he’s willing to be proactive.”
Savio started with FPD in 2014 as a patrol officer. After working as a K-9 handler, he joined the III Corps Drug Task Force.
The sergeant position was posted internally at FPD. Elliott said the department only hires around one or less sergeants a year.
“We’ve had years where we’ve promoted three, but then we’ll go five years and not promote anybody,” he said. “A lot of it depends on retirements and promotions.”
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The applicants first went through a written exam, which Elliott said will soon change.
“We’re actually looking at some other methods to evaluate candidates that are a little more progressive than what we’ve used in the past, and other agencies are currently using these types of tests as well,” he said. “We haven’t made a decision one way or the other, but we are looking at other ways of evaluating the candidates.”
Those who pass the exam with a certain score move on to the next portion of the process: an interview with the Civil Service Commission, comprised of Steve Tellatin, Dave Pinkall and Dan Weddle.
“The commission then ranks the candidates based on their interviews one through however many there are,” Elliott said. “And then the Civil Service Commission takes the top three candidates and gives them to the mayor.”
After asking for a recommendation from Elliott and reviewing the exam and interview scores, Mayor Scott Getzschman gave the role to Savio.
“We’re excited for Dominic to move up to the rank of sergeant,” Getzschman said. “I really felt that even though all the candidates did a good job, I just felt that Dominic was the right choice at this time.”
Elliott said even though Savio was picked, all of the candidates who applied for the position were of excellent character.
“Dominic was certainly a standout, but all of those candidates were well-qualified people, and it could have been anybody,” he said. “Dominic got just the edge that he needed to put him over the top.”
Getzschman said he appreciated Savio for his work done with FPD throughout the years.
“We just wish him the best as he moves forward protecting the citizens of Fremont,” he said.
