County to resume biweekly public safety briefings; police outline recruiting gains and staffing needs

Director Setting told the Public Safety Committee on May 13, 2025, that the county will bring back a biweekly public-safety briefing modeled on the earlier TAPS meetings to share crime trends and public-safety operations with council members and partner agencies.

"The meeting will occur biweekly," Director Setting said, adding there will be a virtual option and that the format will include police, emergency communications, medics and the Office of Emergency Management. The briefings are intended as a venue to report trends, highlight what is working, and give council members a place to ask questions outside the formal committee setting.

Council members asked about format and attendance. Director Setting said the sessions will be held in the Bell Fusion Center at the New Castle County Police Headquarters, run for less than an hour and invite partner agencies. Councilman Cartier asked whether multi-agency participation would be included; Setting said yes and noted a recent dry run produced new information about firearms recovered by special operations.

Chief Jamie Leonard, the chief of police, outlined recruitment and staffing developments during the presentation. He said there are 27 recruits currently in the police academy and that the department had hired several pre-certified officers from out of state who are completing field training. Leonard said the department has pre-hired for the next academy and extended additional offers; he described aggressive, nontraditional recruiting in partnership with Human Resources and said adjustments to eligibility rules (for example, counting honorable military service toward experience) had improved the applicant pool.

Leonard gave targeted staffing goals: the police department's minimum operational strength cited in discussion is 415 officers, and the administration's longer-term reorganization includes placeholders to reach roughly 500 officers over several years. The department expects a 50-person academy starting in August and said it may shift timing slightly to achieve that class size. Multiple speakers noted attrition concerns: Setting and Leonard said more than 50 officers are eligible to leave this year and that some mandatory retirements were expected; Leonard said a forthcoming executive ordinance would raise the minimum retirement age to 57 and would alleviate five near-term mandatory retirements.

Council members urged faster hiring and offered to cosponsor any ordinance to allow overhires. Councilman Carter said he would cosponsor an overhire request and urged moving as quickly as possible; Leonard replied the next academy is planned to start in August (with flexibility to begin in September if needed) and that the department is pursuing an aggressive recruiting posture that includes internships and more focused community engagement in high-need areas.

Several council members and staff also asked that the TAPS-like meetings be posted in the county agenda center and that the county send calendar or email reminders when sessions are scheduled. Director Setting said he would coordinate with staff to post meeting notices.

The chief also described an internship program that runs year-round, with more participants in summer months, and said some internships are paid while others are unpaid; the department is streamlining onboarding to make internships more accessible.

No formal council action adopting policy was recorded for the briefings or recruiting plan during this meeting; multiple council members expressed support and offered further assistance for overhire or recruitment measures.