By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Council will hire five police officers to fill the ranks of a department operating at less than full strength, a town official said Friday.
Princeton Councilwoman Heather H. Howard said the force has 49 officers, below the 51 or 52 it should have. Also, the department is expected to lose three officers, before the end of the year, to retirement, she said.
Hiring the new officers could happen as soon as the next council meeting, July 24. Officials want to act in time to make sure those who need to go to the police academy can start with the next class, she said.
“We hope to make those hires within the next month,” Howard said by phone, “because several of them need to go to the academy, which starts at the end of the summer.”
The current shortage is not affecting patrol coverage of the town, she said. Police Chief Nicholas K. Sutter “does his best to manage it with his assignments,” Howard said.
In terms of a financial impact, Howard said the town finds that as senior officers retire, the municipality realizes a “budget-savings” when it brings on entry-level officers.
Howard said she was “excited that we’re moving forward and I think we’ll have a strong class of new recruits.”
More long term, the department faces the prospect of losing 11 more officers within the next three years when they become retirement eligible, she said.
