Officer

Two Oaklyn police officers were assaulted and a police car was severely damaged May 2 after police responded to a report of criminal mischief in the 100 block of East Bettlewood Avenue. Police gave this account: An officer responded at 4 p.m. to a call from a resident who said that beer cans were being thrown onto his property by people attending a party at a nearby apartment. Upon arrival, the officer was approached by Michael Rosato, 26, of Westmont, and Gregory Francis Bou, 27, of Audubon, who had been attending the party.

It might not seem like the kind of job that earns combat pay, but attending community meetings in South Philadelphia can be quite a challenge. "I go into the senior centers, and I get hit with a lot of complaints," said Philadelphia policeman Charles Sarkioglu, a community relations officer. Typical gripes: Trash, downed traffic signs, broken traffic lights, abandoned cars, graffiti. The biggest complaint: rowdy kids hanging on the corners. "They say, 'If I had your gun - hey, give me your gun, I'll shoot them.

Elizabeth A. Murphy, head of the Delaware River Port Authority's ports division, yesterday was appointed the bistate agency's chief operating officer. Murphy, 41, of Wynnewood, Montgomery County, replaces J.P. Marinari, who resigned, said Paul Drayton, the authority's chief executive officer. Marinari also was board secretary, but that post has not been filled. In appointing Murphy to the $129,000-a-year job, the agency restructured its organizational chart so that the Ports of Philadelphia and Camden (PPC)

A former Hainesport Township special police officer, Edward Brelsford, last week accused the Republican-controlled Township Committee of failing to reappoint him because of political reasons. At the committee's Tuesday meeting, Brelsford told the committee that he planned to sue it. He said he had been told earlier in January by committee member Charles Gray that, because he campaigned last fall against the re- elections of Republicans Gray and Michael McMullen Sr., the committee would not reappoint him. Gray, who is recovering from surgery and did not attend Tuesday's meeting, said in a telephone interview that he would not comment on Brelsford's charges.

Paul Bryson should be glad he doesn't live in Singapore. Because in Philadelphia they occasionally grant pardons. And he got one this week. Bryson, a city police officer, expected to face departmental disciplinary proceedings for having harangued Commissioner Richard Neal at a recent court hearing. But police officials say that Neal, believing that the officer spoke in the heat of the moment, has decided not to take action against Bryson. "Although it was unbecoming conduct and it was a personal attack and it was unprofessional, it was an emotional time," a top police commander said.

The rottweiler sitting in the white Ford Taurus was waiting patiently for its master. All the windows were rolled down. Someone else also was waiting. Patrolman Vernon Addison had spotted the car, parked in the fire lane at the Benson Manor East Apartments. Addison, as he wrote later in his report detailing a marijuana bust on Wednesday night, knew the illegal stop was favored by drug dealers. The driver of the Taurus, Christopher Gary Zygmont, 21, of the 400 block of Sylvania Avenue in Glenside, was arrested and charged with various drug offenses after 8.5 pounds of marijuana was found in two cardboard boxes in the trunk.

A Camden County grand jury indicted a Runnemede police officer yesterday on misconduct charges after he allegedly stole seven pornographic videotapes while assisting a man who had suffered a fatal heart attack. Camden County Prosecutor Edward F. Borden Jr. identified the indicted officer as Patrolman Chester Dirkes, 34, of the 300 block of Sunnybrook Drive, Runnemede. Dirkes has been on the force for three years. Officials said the theft occurred May 24, 1990, after Dirkes and Patrolman William Geigelman responded to the Regent Court Apartments in Runnemede to assist an unconscious man. The officers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on James Hackett but were unable to revive him, Borden said.

An off-duty Philadelphia police officer charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving in the death of a mounted officer Tuesday was ordered yesterday to appear for a preliminary court hearing Wednesday. Charles Loughran, 39, of the 2900 block of Thompson Street in Kensington, was arraigned at his bedside at Methodist Hospital, where he was in fair condition. He received head injuries when the truck he was driving struck the mounted officer, William D. McCarthy, and his horse after a rock concert at the Spectrum.

At some point during his 3 1/2 years as a Camden County correctional officer, says psychologist Morris M. Rubin, Paul R. Bunn became a "lulu. " Rubin, who was hired by the Sheriff's Department to evaluate job candidates, said Bunn's problems were not apparent in 1984, when he approved Bunn's hiring as a guard in the county jail. "His judgment and tolerance to cope with stressful circumstances are good," Rubin concluded then. But when Bunn applied for promotion to a sheriff's officer job last March, Sheriff William J. Simon rejected him based on Rubin's conclusion that Bunn was psychologically unfit for the job. Rubin said Bunn's tenure in the department indicated that he was prone to "impulsive, explosive, irresponsible, negative behavior when thwarted or denied his terms.

A suspended Beverly City police officer accused of shoving his gun into a defendant's face was acquitted yesterday of all charges after a four-day trial. A Burlington County Superior Court jury took a little less than three hours to find Peter Alfinito not guilty of aggravated assault, official misconduct, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and assault. "The charges against him were nonsense and the jury didn't take long to see that," said defense attorney Allen S. Ferg.