Faced with vacancies in his top ranks, the city’s new police chief said he plans to hire three new assistant chiefs by the end of the month.
Chief Frank Limon made that announcement Thursday afternoon after a press conference at police headquarters.
The new hires will replace three assistant chief positions that recently opened up. Two assistant chiefs who came with former Chief James Lewis from California, Roy Brown and Kenneth Gillespie, left the force when Lewis retired on Feb. 26. A third assistant chief, Pete Reichard, retired Feb. 1. That left Stephanie Redding as the only assistant chief.
The positions were created in 2008 based on an audit prepared by outside consultants, the Police Executive Research Forum, in the wake of the New Haven police’s corruption scandal. The “PERF” report recommended restructuring the police department, doubling the number of assistant chiefs from two to four.
After the three top spots opened up in February, there was discussion about whether to fill them again. The decision was left up to Limon, who took office on April 5.
Limon declined to comment on whether he’d fill the assistant chief jobs from inside or outside the department. He said he intended to do so “by the end of the month.”
Given the city's current financial straights and the pending budget cuts, are these hires really necessary? Can somebody please talk about whether we need all these district commanders and all this top heavy management? Just asking...