Bethel auxiliary police officer Steve Teague has been promoted to part-time status, a move which Bethel Police Chief John Wallace said will be positive for the village.

“Ever since Steve has been appointed as an auxiliary police office in April of 2004, he’s been a solid performer who continually meets all of the requirements of the auxiliary program,” said Chief Wallace. “His decisions are sound, timely and he has common sense and knows the policies and procedures. Steve continuously performs the duties of mayor’s court bailiff, which is now quite the intricate thing with the changes we’ve went through.”

The part-time positions were created last year as a way of rewarding, and hopefully retaining, auxiliary police officers who showed promise. Auxiliary officers work essentially for free as a way to serve, gain experience and maintain their license as police officers. According to Chief Wallace, Teague has excelled in all of his duties.

“I think if we do this, we can keep Steve here forever and a day,” said Chief Wallace. “He’s really developed into a fine use of force consultant for me. That’s something that people are really getting hammered on, the use of force by police. He’s given me good advice, and we’ve made some good choices with our use of force continuum.”