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Norwalk Police says staffing steady, overtime and salaries tracking within budget
Summary
Chief told the commission the department has 81 sworn officers, two open sworn positions, and that salaries and overtime are tracking 'in the green' through nine months of the fiscal year.
Chief Denno presented the department’s March 2025 executive report, saying the Norwalk Police Department had 81 sworn personnel and two open sworn positions as of March and that overall salaries and overtime remain within budget for the fiscal year.
“The March 2025 chief execs executive report. The March, we had a 81 sworn personnel, 2 open sworn positions,” the chief told the commission. He also reported that Lieutenant Mark Lepore retired on March 14, 2025, and that one officer was on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation.
The chief provided more detail on leave and training: four officers had been on extended workers’ compensation leave (a number he said has since been reduced), one officer recently finished field training, and telecommunicator staffing had two open positions with two background investigations underway. He said the department had used roughly 71% of salary budgets through nine months of the fiscal year and about 52% of overtime allocations, leaving both categories “tracking in the green.”
The chief also reported account balances for asset forfeiture funds (state and federal) at about $236,000 and described other workload measures including extra-work jobs (960 scheduled, 870 worked) and approximately 9,919 officer hours recorded for those details in March. He said special-services overtime was down while detective bureau overtime was up 30% and training-division overtime was up about 22% due to officers completing review credit cycles.
Commissioners asked about sick-time spikes and whether holiday months explain higher usage; the chief noted a combination of the state’s expanded sick-leave rules, seasonal illness and a small number of COVID cases over the winter, and said the department monitors patterns for potential abuse and requires medical notes when contractual thresholds are met.
No formal votes were taken on operational budgeting at the meeting. The chief said the department was recruiting for future police academy seats, with interviews in April for placements into a July post-academy class.
