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35 police recruits graduate in Waterbury

WATERBURY — On Wednesday night in the Brass City, the Waterbury Police Department graduated a large class of police recruits. Thirty-five officers were sw...

WATERBURY -- On Wednesday night in the Brass City, the Waterbury Police Department graduated a large class of police recruits.

Thirty-five officers were sworn in as police officers in a ceremony at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. The event started with a long-standing tradition of a photo in front of Waterbury City Hall and then a mini-parade march right down Main Street.

Waterbury Police is one of a handful of police departments in Connecticut that operates its own Police Academy.  Thirty one of the graduating officers will be Waterbury cops bringing their total number of officers to 293. West Hartford Police also had 4 officers graduate from Waterbury’s academy.

This comes a week after Hartford Police just graduated 17 Officers. In the three years Mayor Luke Bronin has been in office, the Department has recruited 60 new police officers. But that has been just enough to keep up with attrition. And Hartford Police is hiring right now, with a current open application process running through April 1st.

Wednesday morning, in response to the decline number of troopers, the Connecticut State Police announced an information session aimed at helping with their upcoming hiring blitz. Next Wednesday March 6th, potential police candidates are invited to the Connecticut Police Academy at 6pm, to learn more about the hiring process.

Commissioner James Rovella of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection has said that he expects roughly 55% of the current state troopers to be eligible to retire within the next four years. Police Departments all over the state country are seeing challenges in attracting candidates to protect and serve. Newly appointed Commissioner Rovella hopes by aggressively addressing this staffing shortage now, it will help prevent a severe crisis in the years to come.

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