Chief: Police Department Planning for New Hires

The proposed 2013-14 budget is in the hands of the Legislative Council, and won't go before Newtown residents until a referendum scheduled for April 23 -- just under three weeks away. But Police Chief Michael Kehoe says the department is in the "early planning stages" of the hiring process for new police officers, a request contained within the proposed budget.

Kehoe told Newtown's Board of Police Commissioners the department has begun a hiring process in anticipation of "something happening" when the town's budget is passed.

"[First Selectman Pat Llodra] requested we started early, even though we don't have moneys promised to us or approved," Kehoe said. "But it's prudent that we do start a process, because we know it may take a long period of time."

The 2013-14 budget as recommended by the Board of Finance calls for an extra $420,000, an amount that would allow Newtown police to hire 4.3 new officers -- enough to place police at every Newtown public school. 

Kehoe told Patch the process is in the early planning stages, and the department is not assuming any specific number of hires.

"We're going to be personally reaching out to vendors to give us a testing process to hire people," he said.

Overtime figures have caused headaches for the department since the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and numbers from police show routine activity like traffic stops and inspecting buildings for criminal activity have lagged in the first two months of 2013. In February, commissioners said they needed at least 11 new officers to reach FBI-recommended levels for a town with the size and population of Newtown.

The Legislative Council will discuss the town budget at tomorrow's meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Newtown Municipal Center, according to the town's website. A short public hearing on the budget last week drew only three comments from residents.