BRISTOL, Conn. — As the Bristol Police Department continues to mourn two officers killed earlier this month, the police chief and mayor thanked the community for their continued outpour of support and the city's strategy for moving forward in serving the community.
Chief Brian Gould and Mayor Jeff Caggiano (R-Bristol) addressed the media Wednesday morning at the police station, where the memorial honoring fallen officers Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy continues to grow with flowers, American flags and thank-you posters.
"We're not alone, we're seeing that from all of you, the community," Gould said.
"The outpouring of just sympathy, grief and the need to help has been truly astounding," Caggiano said.
That outpour was very apparent as the mayor provided an update to the two official fundraisers to help the families of the fallen officers.
Fund the First raised over $515,900 in 11 days, and the Bristol Police Department Heroes Fund raised $310,000, according to Caggiano.
As of Wednesday morning, roughly $1 million has been raised to benefit the families of the victims, including officer Iurato.
The community not only donated money to show support but also days' worth of food every day to the police department to help feed the officers. The mayor said there was so much food that they had to send extras to the local food banks.
While the healing process continues, the chief is prioritizing the wellness of his officers.
"They're out there and they're truly remarkable that they are going back and getting back on the saddle...while they're grieving," Gould said.
Even with over 90 deployable officers at hand, Bristol police are putting out an urgent recruitment call.
"We have to rebuild," Gould said and then added, "We're putting out a call to action: we need quality, certified police officers."
He said that it typically takes a year for officers to join the force as they complete academy training. They're looking to speed up that process by looking for experienced officers, aiming to add up to 20 officers.
Officers can join the force as soon as four to six weeks, even sooner than that depending on experience, according to Gould.
Caggiano echoed the need for police officers, which he says is a bigger, widespread issue.
"The need for police officers is obviously very pressing to us here in Bristol, but this is actually a statewide and a national problem so I do hope that one silver lining from this tragic event will be that we have more people get involved and protecting and serving our community," Caggiano said.
There are 122 officers sworn in, some are not currently deployable because some are at academy training and others are on long-term leave. Officer Alec Iurato, injured in the ambush that killed DeMonte and Hamzy, is raring to get back to work.
"Officer Iurato is a true hero," Gould said. "I know he can't wait to come back."
Iurato, after being shot in the leg, took cover near a neighboring house, before moving in behind a Bristol police cruiser to take the shot that killed suspect Nicholas Brutcher on Oct. 12.
"So he’s recovering, and I think we are going to see him back rather quickly," Gould said with a smile. "In fact, I’m probably gonna have to be putting the brakes on him to make sure that he gets well."
Iurato is "doing very well," and even walked the honor flag without crutches at the joint funeral services for DeMonte and Hamzy on Friday.
"If he had it his way he would be here right now," Gould said. "He's very committed and he will persevere."
RELATED: New England Patriots honor fallen Bristol police officers Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy
The mayor shined a light on over half the city of Bristol, which has been lit up blue for the police department. There's been a surge in demand for blue light bulbs, and local hardware stores have been overnighting blue lights so that people can light them up them outside. The mayor hopes to keep the city lit up in blue through the holidays and hopes that 80% of the town will participate.
The memorial in front of the police department will likely remain for a couple of more weeks, the mayor said, and items from it will be saved to create elements for a new streetscape as part of the downtown revitalization.
"We will have benches that are made from some of this [memorial] stuff," Caggiano said. "We will hopefully take some of the flowers and put it into the streetscape. So we’re trying to be thoughtful about that."
Next week, there will be a police commissioners meeting, where a subcommittee will be formed to come up with a way to properly memorialize the two fallen officers.
In the meantime, DeMonte and Hamzy were memorialized at the Connecticut Police Academy's officer memorial in Meriden last week.
And as the investigation by multiple state agencies continues, the chief and mayor said they are not at liberty to comment on the case.
"At this point what I know is there was nothing that they [officers] could do at that moment," Gould added. "They were completely ambushed."
Bristol city leaders encourage community members to call the mayor's office or the Bristol police department if they want to donate in other ways other than through the two major financial funds.
Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at lmyers@fox61.com
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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