Christopher Peak Photo
Chief Campbell with recruits at the academy.
Hemorrhaging younger cops to the suburbs, New Haven is looking to pluck suburban retirees to help build its force back up.
Harp administration officials plan to meet Wednesday to explore the idea, which would involve creating a new category of “certified police officer” to allow for “lateral” hires of experienced officers who don’t need to go through the academy.
Mayor Toni Harp said officials have batted the idea around for four years. Now, with a continuing cascade of resignations and retirements, she has directed her human recourses and police departments to focus on getting it done.
“I finally decided to put my foot down and said: ‘It’s got to happen,’” Harp said during her most recent appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.
“How do we police the city when we have so many people leaving? … If we can get officers who are young and retired and still want to do this work from other towns, that will help.”
The directive comes at a time of what many inside the department consider a staffing crisis. The department has 495 positions. Only 403 of those positions are currently filled, according to Chief Anthony Campbell. And that includes 28 cadets at the training academy, who won’t be ready to patrol streets until the end of June. It also includes people out on administrative leave.
Campbell said he expects another 30 – 50 cops to resign or retire in coming months.
(Another 17 officers are currently in training at other academies, and another class will start at New Haven’s academy in March, Campbell said.)
Meanwhile, officers have been squeezed on some shifts trying to respond to all the calls. Police overtime is running double budgeted levels.
Several factors have led to the force’s diminution, including:
• Active recruiting efforts of younger cops by suburban departments, who offer more money and better benefits in lower-crime environments.
• An expected further decline in health benefits in the next police contract, which is currently the subject of arbitration.
Harp noted that officers can retire as early as 40 or 45 from other departments, and have productive years ahead that could be used in New Haven.
“I love the idea,” Campbell said of the idea of creating the new “lateral” police position. He said most departments have such positions. He said he envisions having applicants complete a 25 – 50 question written test, then spend a couple of weeks (rather than the customary three months for rookies) with a field training officers to get up to speed with the city’s streets and radio codes.
“Then you have a fully trained, fully certified police officer who is available to you right away, instead of waiting nine months” including time in the training academy, Campbell said. “If you hired 25 laterals, you could have them on the street within a month.
“They come with something you can’t put a price tag on: Experience.”
City human resources chief Steve Librandi said he’s ready to work on the details. “There are obstacles to it. We have some ideas,” he said. “We need to make sure they’re feasible legally and practically.”
Click on the video to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program, which includes discussion with mayoral assistant Mike Harris about efforts to train New Haveners for tech jobs and to connect neighborhoods though art.
This episode of “Mayor Monday” was made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem Moses P.C.
I thought the whole reasoning behind Police Officers getting 20 or 25 year and out pensions was that their job is so stressful and demanding that they should be able to retire young? Yet everywhere I look I see them "retiring" young and then going straight to another department.