New Haven Independent

New Haven will fill at most 10 of the 26 new police positions it added to the budget this year in the hopes of beefing up the city police force in the wake of last summer’s teen violence and turf wars.

So reported Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Redding at a Police Commission meeting Monday night. She requested, and the commission approved, taking a last four recruits off the civil service list and sending them to be trained at the POST Academy in Meriden starting next Monday, May 21. The four, who’d hit the streets in October, would add to the 27 police recruits remaining in the police academy class in New Haven, who are due to graduate in September.

The new cops, upon graduation, would fill 21 existing vacancies on the force, plus 10 newly added positions. Residents yearning for more neighborhood walking beats should see a difference starting in December, when new cops will start working solo after initial job-shadowing training, said Redding.

“We wish good luck to the officers — we hope they’ll all do well,” Police Commission Chairman Rick Epstein remarked.

Conversation turned to the future: The city’s decided the solution to current crime is to beef up the force. But given how hard it’s been to find qualified applicants, how will the city ensure it gets enough bodies to build the police force of its dreams?

Epstein suggested during the next phase of recruitment that the city hire a PR firm to “put some positive spin” on a career that’s dwindling in popularity nationwide.

Redding (pictured) responded the department would consider all options on the table as it approaches its next recruitment drive, due to start May 29. This time around, it won’t be joining forces with the much more attractive (and more controversial) fire department recruitment drive — an association that some say drew interest away from the police jobs.

Scott Nabel, director of human resources for the police department, said the city plans to do two things differently this time around to bolster the number of people who apply: One, “not requiring such onerous paperwork up front” — applicants had to bring a slew of paperwork at initial recruitment meetings — and two, extending the application period. “I don’t think we’re going to see numbers like we did in our heyday,” but those two changes should help, Nabel said.

Ring, Ring, Ring

When you call the police non-emergency number (946-6316), the series of rings can seem “endless.” The city’s civilian recruitment drive aims to mend that.

“There’s not even enough people to answer the phones and fill the seats,” Redding told the board. Of the 26 budgeted dispatcher assistants, at least seven spots remain vacant. Testing began last week for those and other civilian positions. Redding told the board she’s “disappointed” in the candidates’ failure rate on the tests. She didn’t have specific stats to share.

Epstein wasn’t surprised. “It’s a terrible job!” he said. Dispatcher assistants must continually answer calls on everything from lost dog reports to pissed off residents who’ve had their car towed to emergencies that should’ve been directed to 911. They relay calls to police dispatchers, who send police for help.

“The stress level’s enormous,” noted Epstein. “The pay stinks. It’s a terrible job.” Dispatcher assistants start at $32,886 per year, according to the FY07-08 budget.

“The private sector is ahead of the public sector here,” said Commissioner Chris DePino, pointing to the salary.

A more big-picture transformation — merging the fire department 911 center with the police dispatch room — which should streamline the calling process, is a few months behind its original merger date of February. The merger should happen “soon,” said Redding.

Piled-Up Records

The biggest priority for the civilian hiring process, according to Redding, is to add more staff to the records room, where freedom of information requests pile up, arrest warrants remain to be served, and crime data from the last two years remains to be reported to the FBI. The PD hopes to hire 12 records clerks. Those plus one new employee at the animal shelter would fill the department’s request for 13 new civilian positions to be added to the budget.

In other civilian employee news, Assistant Chief Herman Badger reported a civilian member of the department was arrested Monday for a domestic dispute with her son.