Meriden police cite staffing shortfalls, forced overtime and limited NI coverage, urge budget and recruitment steps

Meriden — Deputy Chief Nicholas Sherwood told the Meriden Public Safety Committee on Oct. 23 that the Meriden Police Department is operating under sustained staffing pressure that has reduced neighborhood coverage and driven mandatory overtime.

Sherwood said the department’s roster lists 117 authorized officers and eight active openings. ‘‘We have 93 deployable officers,’’ he said, adding that the figure includes command staff and detectives and that many officers are nondeployable because they are in training, injured or deployed. Since Jan. 1, Sherwood said the department recorded 252 mandated or forced overtime shifts, a level he said is contributing to burnout and morale concerns.

The staffing crunch has affected the NI (Neighborhood Initiative) unit, which both public commenters and Sherwood said is down to one full-time officer for some periods. Public commenter Holly thanked Lieutenant Cardona ‘‘for how he's handling the staffing issues in the NI unit’’ and said residents had been reassured by Chief Rosato that staffing would return. Sherwood said Officer Jenna Vallejo is assigned to the NI unit but was temporarily reassigned because of SWAT training and is scheduled to return when training ends.

Sherwood urged a multipronged approach to recruitment and retention, listing national trends, exit interviews and municipal incentives. ‘‘In exit interviews, officers cited better salaries, pensions and benefits elsewhere,’’ he said. He described local recruitment efforts — a recruitment team, outreach to colleges and job fairs — and listed other retention tools used by municipalities, including buyback of prior service and supplemental allowances.

Council members asked for follow-up data. Councilor Bruce Fontanella requested detailed arrest and enforcement statistics for downtown and the Meriden Green; Sherwood agreed to provide additional figures at a later meeting. Mayor Kevin Scarpati and others urged more visible promotion of recent arrests and enforcement successes to boost morale and public confidence.

Sherwood also asked the committee to consider ongoing program needs. He said the department’s embedded clinician (provided through a partnership with Rushford and Hartford HealthCare) has responded to more than 200 calls over two quarters and is ‘‘at the point of saturation,’’ and that expanding that service may be appropriate for upcoming budget discussions. He said an Apprehension K9 program is planned for early 2026 and that the department will pilot the Taser 10 and has rolled out updated Axon body cameras.

The committee did not take formal action on staffing or clinician funding at the meeting; councilors asked staff to return with budget-related recommendations and more detailed statistics.