HALLSVILLE (KYTX) -- After months of controversy surrounding the Hallsville Police Department, city leaders say they're getting back on track. CBS 19's Abby Broyles is live tonight at the Hallsville Police Department.
Chief Greg Scott tells CBS 19 he's looking forward to the future. He's been short-handed for months, but now he's hired three new police officers. Last night, he swore them in down the street at city hall.
Chief Gregg Scott says he's getting the Hallsville Police Department back on track.
"We've taken the steps of hiring highly qualified individuals to be able to accomplish this task," Chief Scott said.
He's hired Rodney Johnson, Brandon Smith and Johnathon Luttrell.
"They're going to go through field training operations, in-house training if you will, and once they have completed that training then they will be assigned a shift and begin patrolling for the citizens of Hallsville," Chief Scott said.
Officer Paul Montoya was hired in January. It's the first time they'll be fully staffed since Mayor Jerri Medrano fired some of the officers in December. In letters from the City of Hallsville obtained by CBS 19, the officers had been reprimanded by the city for violating guidelines for police conduct, including misdemeanor charges for driving 4-wheelers on city streets.
But the community fired back, the city council reinstated the fired officers, including chief Greg Scott. Now he's back on the job, but the other officers resigned, leaving the department under-staffed.
"This does create a hardship on the officers when they're short-handed, especially in a situation where you have multiple calls happening at the same time," Chief Scott said.
City leaders want the new department to be involved in the community.
"You're going see them, you're gonna see a lot more out there, we're not going to be as strapped," Mayor Medrano said.
Mayor Medrano says now they're working to re-evaluate department policies and create new a code of conduct manual by January.
"It's going to continue to be a safe place, people search out this community specifically because we have a low crime rate here"
"Through this rebuilding process, the Hallsville Police Department is going to grow, become an even better department," Chief Scott said.
Chief Scott says before the news officers are out here patrolling city streets, they'll go through three to four months of training. While the city remains short-handed in the meantime, the Harrison County Sheriff's Department will continue to provide extra patrol in city limits.
In March, the city reached a severance deal with the interim officers who were fired. The city had to pay 4 months severance to the interim chief, 2 months each to the interim officers, and $2500 in attorney fees.
