A Summit Hill resident was hired as a full-time policeman in the Borough of Lehighton during a special meeting of the borough council held last night.

Joseph Lawrence, 24, of 313 N. Oak St., was selected for the position from a field of 25 candidates. He is currently a full-time member of the Summit Hill Police Department, a position he has held for the last two years.

The hiring of Lawrence brings the total number of full-time officers on the Lehighton force to seven. This is the first time since 1972 — when lee Walsh had retired as chief of police — that Lehighton had a seven-man force.

Lawrence was the top finisher in the Civil Service Commission’s testing of the applicants. He holds a bachelor of science degree in quantitative business analysis from Penn State University and went on to graduate from the Allentown Police Academy.