After a review of its policies, the Connecticut-based Bridgeport Police Department will begin hiring cops who use hearing aids.
Despite passing the necessary tests, Vincenzo Mirci was disqualified from joining the force last summer. Mirci also had the necessary background for law enforcement, which included “nine years of military service, a criminal justice degree [and] experience working security,” according to the Stamford Advocate.
An appeal of the Bridgeport PD’s initial decision allowed Mirci on the force, “as long as the devices elevate an officer’s hearing to standard levels,” the Stamford Advocate reported.
Mitola said hearing aids are now smaller and more reliable, alleviating concerns they will suddenly fail or be dislodged by an assailant.
Then there is also the fact that Bridgeport allows its men and women in blue to compensate for poor vision.
Mirci pointed that out to one spectacle-wearing city staffer when he learned his hearing aids were an issue.
“I said, `I don’t understand how you get me out on a hearing problem,’ ” Mirci recalled. “If we were in pursuit of a suspect, my aid falls out, your glasses fall off, who’s got a better shot?”