MERIDEN -- The Meriden City Council voted in favor of reinstating a neighborhood police initiative Monday night.
In September, a budget referendum led to the tanking of the program, Neighborhood Initiative, which had placed officers in neighborhoods all over Meriden. Since the program was taken away, residents complained of an uptick in crime.
“Meriden needs to be a good place to live and I want to feel that way," said Lynn Sikora, who has lived in Meriden all her life.
“We’re missing them because they are of great value. They fight crime proactively.”
The City Council voted in favor of reinstating the program, six votes to one, and Mayor Kevin Scarpati said he was pleased with the outcome.
"I'm happy with the end result, finally getting the votes we need to reinstate these officers back out into our neighborhoods," he said.
Scarpati said the job is not done and he hopes to add more officers back into the program at the start of the next cycle in July.