James Baker, the new Rutland Police Chief, outlined his plans
moving forward during the city Police Commission meeting Monday.
Fighting crime and drugs, addressing a personnel shortage in his
department and recruiting new officers were among his
priorities.
City police as well as federal and state law enforcement officers
have been aggressively pursuing crimes related to drugs in
Rutland's neighborhoods as part of their "Fed Up" initiative.
One of the overarching problems Baker noted was that the police
force has struggle around a shortage of officers. This has forced
the department to pay overtime hours to fill many of it's shifts.
Baker says recruiting new officers is challenging because the
salaries are competitive comparatively.
Tagged:
Rutland, Police Chief Baker
