Relief is on the Way!

Plans are on the board to hire 86 (that's eighty-six) new recruits sometime between now and Christmas.

That's assuming that there are

• eighty-six names still on the list,
  
• eighty-six people who can pass the drug and power tests,
  
• eighty-six people who have waited through about three years of no hiring movement whatsoever,
• eighty-six people who are willing to disrupt their lives to the extent necessary to become the police in an economy where not only are jobs scarce, formerly "recession-resistant" jobs such as the police, fire and municipal employees are being forced or requested to take off massive amounts of time and a retirement future that is about as bleak as an Antarctic winter day.

And that will just about cover the 591 vacancies and hold the Department through the upcoming 2010 budget year when 1,000 more police become eligible for retirement.

Welcome aboard recruits! Don't mind the water rising in your steerage compartments. It's all part of the charm.