Donald R. Sloan
About the New
London Police Department According to the New London Police Department, “In the early 1850's the Common Council
received pressure from citizens to establish a "night watch", but the business community did not want to pay the
cost. Mayor J.N. Harris hired more constables to help keep order, but they could only serve 20-day periods
at a time. He had to keep reappointing the same men for 20-day periods. When Hiram Willey became mayor in 1862 he worked for a
city "watch system" which was finally approved in September of 1864, as a result a 3 member police committee with
powers to appoint was created and 8 men were appointed.
The men were given clubs, bells,
sockets and badges. They worked out of an apartment in the rear of the police court until February of 1865
when they were moved to the selectmen's rooms.” Today, the New London Police Department is a full service police
department organized into four areas: Administration; Uniform Services; Support Services; and Investigative Services. According
to the New London Police Department, “The Uniformed Services Division is the largest division of the police department.
It consists of three shifts of patrol officers and supervisors. Officers are assigned to one of three main shifts, day, evening
or midnight shift. A Lieutenant, and three sergeants supervise each one of the three main shifts, or “squads”.
Officers on Patrol may be
utilized in one of several special assignments. New London Officers patrol the city using specially equipped police mountain
bikes, or one of three motorcycles. Other special assignments within the Uniformed
Services Division include: K-9, Patrol Division Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Marine Patrol, Field Training Officers (FTO),
School Resource Officers (SRO), and NIP-IT, Code Enforcement Team.
One officer is assigned
to the Traffic Section. Responsibilities include: fleet maintenance, traffic enforcement, safety education, coordination of
crossing guards, and event planning. The New London Police Department also participates in the Regional Traffic Unit of Southeastern Connecticut. This
program allows for the pooling of officers for roadblocks and spot checks in participating cities and towns.” Source ci-new-london.ct.us
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