New London A petition drive is underway to reverse the City Council’s recent repeal of an ordinance that mandates a minimum staffing level at the police department.
The petition calls for the council to reconsider its March 1 vote to repeal the 80-officer mandate or, if the council does not reconsider, move the question to a citywide vote.
The council voted to repeal the 2014 staffing ordinance with support from a coalition of different groups in the city, the same groups who have called for reductions in the police budget in line with a national movement pushing for police reforms.
The repeal of the ordinance does not prohibit the police department, now at 73 officers, from increasing its staff, nor does it impact police funding. But former city councilor John Russell, who helped organize the petition drive, said the repeal was a thinly veiled first step toward “defunding,” police.