Openings, Vacancies Continue To Rise At Milford Police Dep't

MILFORD, CT — The Milford Police Department currently has 12 openings and is having difficulty filling the positions, said Police Chief Keith Mello.

Mello told members of the Board of Police Commissioners that although a class of officers recently graduated, another police academy will begin in October, and that is due to the fact there are 12 openings in the department, with more anticipated in the coming months, according to meeting minutes.

He added this is the case with all departments in the state and the country, as there is difficulty in recruiting individuals who qualify as well as the numbers needed to fill the vacancies. He noted that he had been told that 95 percent of the people who are going through the process fail the polygraph tests, meeting minutes state. His concern went further in that there is a lack of interest and all departments are competing against each other for qualified candidates, meeting minutes state.

Mello said officers are often being held over for extra shifts and that is affecting their morale. He added that he anticipates this holding over on shifts will continue throughout the summer and with that in mind he has included in his proposed 2022-23 budget a request for an additional 4 officers. Further, if those 4 officers could be hired, it would put the department at full strength, Mello said.

Chairman Richard Smith said there are 12 openings at this time and another 4-5 are anticipated by October 2022 which would mean 17 openings by then. He questioned how much of this issue stems from the employment pressures that every company/business/municipality is feeling, meeting minutes state

Mello posed the question of where are the people who really want to take on the role of an officer.

Mello said Milford's officers are doing "very good work" and at this time there is a lot going on in Milford, especially on the Route 1 corridor, and many of the incidents involve youth, meeting minutes state.