In an announcement nobody saw coming, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner …
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31 officers back on the force
COPS grant makes the return possible
Updated: Wednesday, 05 Aug 2009, 4:42 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 05 Aug 2009, 3:08 PM EDT
TOLEDO, Ohio - Thirty-one laid off Toledo police officers were notified Wednesday that they will be back on the job as soon as next week.
The news of the officer's return after the Glass City was awarded a $7.14 million federal COPS Grant. City Council approved the ordinance allowing Mayor Carty Finkbeiner to accept the three-year federal grant funds.
What this means is the Toledo Police Department is near the strength it was before all the layoffs this past May. Now all the officers are back on the force except for 15 cops, who are still laid off.
Of the 31 officers called back, 17 will be on the street, one will be reassigned to traffic, one as sergeant-at-arms, who provides protection to city council. Twelve officers will go back to the detective bureau.
After the layoffs, the detective bureau was spread thin. There were only a handful of investigators handling property cases, such as burglaries.
Captain Ray Carroll, who oversees the investigation unit, says he's proud of his detectives for stepping up when the bureau was working with a bare bones staff. He knows it was difficult for them.
"In tough times they did their jobs and it hurt me when they get criticized, because citizens don't see the hours they put in or the frustration they had when they couldn’t get to all the burglary reports."
Since the city accepted this COPS grant funding, Toledo is
required to keep the police department's manpower at 564 officers
for at least four years. The grant money will pay for the
officers’ salaries for three years. The next mayoral
administration and future city officials will be required to pay
the salaries for an additional year, starting in August 2012.
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