NORWAY – The six people chosen to be interviewed for Norway police chief will have to submit to a polygraph test and psychological examinations.

Since January 2000, such testing has been the law for incoming cadets at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, but it is not required for police chiefs. The tests are left to the discretion of the town or city manager, said Brunswick Police Chief Jerry Hinton, who is helping Norway with its search.

Hinton said he has been briefed on the various controversies involving four former Norway police chiefs – Tim Richards, Alan Afflerbach, Cathy Manchester and James DeNormandie – who were fired or resigned over the past 14 years.

He said he agrees with Town Manager David Holt’s decision to add polygraph testing and psychological examinations to the oral boards that the six finalists must face.

“It’s hard to do a character judgment based only on an interview,” Hinton said. But that’s often what happens when police officers in supervisory positions move up the ladder.

“You’re dealing with human beings here,” he said. “You hope it’s a good marriage for both sides and that you’ve done your homework before making a selection.”

Hinton, along with Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Steve Clark and Topsham Police Chief Tim Young, have already met with Holt. They will meet Tuesday with a 10-member search committee to go over interview questions.

Hinton has looked over the resumes of the six candidates, who include several police chiefs and two people from Oxford County.

“You’ve got some great candidates – a lot of substance there,” Hinton said.

All the testing in the world, however, “doesn’t guarantee that a person won’t stub their toe along the way,” said Hinton, who teaches ethics at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Hiring a new police chief is a “monumental task,” he said. “We are certainly held to a higher standard for ethics and morals. And we should be. We are given an astronomical power and authority and we hope we are using it wisely.”

Hinton has sat in on the oral boards for the hiring of police chiefs in Scarborough, Monmouth and Orono. Besides a person’s background, education and length of service in police work, the candidates are judged on how they would handle various law enforcement scenarios and how well that fits with the town’s selection criteria.