Norwalk's Finest approaching full strength
Posted: Thursday, May 7, 2009
By STEVE KOBAK - Hour Staff Writer
The Norwalk Police Department is approaching full-strength with the training of 11 new recruits and by the end of the summer will able to assign officers to units that were impacted by budget cuts, according to Police Chief Harry Rilling.
The department currently has 165 active police officers and, with the addition of the new officers, the department will reach its capacity.
Before they become full-fledged officers, the new recruits must first graduate from police academy and spend 14 weeks doing field work as part of their training, according to Rilling. The recruits have been attending a 24-week session at the police academy in Meriden since Feb. 20.
When the training of the new recruits is completed, the department will be able to overcome the affects of budget cuts -- which forced them to redeploy officers to the patrol division earlier this year, Rilling said.
Officers were reassigned to the patrol division due to a projected city budget shortfall approaching $2 million. Mayor Richard A. Moccia instructed departments in November to reduce spending in the current fiscal year, and the police department had to make $469,602 in budget cut result of the cuts, police reduced patrol staffing by one officer per shift. A total of five officers were redeployed from community police, special services and the complaint bureau and put on the patrol division. "When we get up to full strength, we'll be able to assign people to some other programs," he said. "We'll be able to put people back in the Narcotics Unit and Community Police."
The maximum number of officers the police department can employ to reach full-strength is determined during the city's budgeting process.
"If we need new officers, we have to present it in the budget, and we have to present justification for the new hires," Rilling said.
Councilman-at-large Michael Geake -- chairman of the Health, Welfare and Public Safety Committee, which handles some police department affairs -- said he would like to see even more officers on the staff.
"Officers in the past have worked a phenomenal amount of overtime," he said. "Once we get past the budget crisis, we need to look at (additional) staffing in the police department."
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