After years of a dwindling police force, the Hartford Police Department is turning a corner. A new class of 16 recruits is beginning the rigorous six-month police academy training.
This class is the most diverse the department has ever had, with 10 minority recruits, and three of the recruits were in the Hartford Cadet Program.
“This is so much more training. Police officers are scrutinized so much more than they were 22 years ago when I was here,” Hartford Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said. “You can just imagine how many situations a police officer gets sent to where they're expected with liability and lives on the line to perform professionally. So it's a difficult task for them.”
The department has approximately 385 police officers. Seventeen have already retired this year, with 25 more eligible for retirement in 2017 and 48 more officers eligible in 2018. Foley said the department has had to cut services as the numbers have dropped.
“Previous administrations at city hall, we’re going back five-seven years now, we've warned them that these numbers would be dropping and that they needed to take action and they didn't and now we're faced with our staffing crisis that the mayor is doing a pretty good job of addressing," Foley said.
Mayor Luke Bronin’s goal has been to train 70 recruits over multiple classes, but finding qualified applicants has been difficult, especially from Hartford.
This class size is 16 and so was the last class over the winter, but Bronin said he is determined to boost the force back into the mid-400s.
Bronin said he wants the new recruits to understand their job is about more than stopping crime and bringing offenders to justice.
“Our police department is strongest when it has strong relationships of trust and mutual respect with the community that it serves. Ultimately, our police officers are public servants. They are here to keep our community safe and build confidence and trust,” Bronin said.
