Flint hires seven new officers, looking for three more - ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI

(03/11/13) - Flint just added seven new badges to their police force using millage money, but not everyone is happy with how the funds are being spent.

We spoke with the city council president and the police union, and they said the department did hire seven new officers, but three officers recently retired.

That means really there are only four brand new officers on the streets.

"With the citizens of Flint reaching in their pockets in tough times and the biggest millage on a ballot in history, I think they're a little short changed," said Kevin Smith, Flint Police Officers Association president.

"I've always been calling for 30 to 50, but it's only a net gain of four when they promised 10 to 12," he said.

Smith says three of the seven are Flint officers that were laid off and brought back to work. The new hires are paid for by a public safety millage, passed last November.

City Council President Scott Kincaid would like to see more officers hired, and he'd like to recruit and train them locally.

"You've got Baker, you've got U of M, you've got Mott Community College, they all have programs for policing and we ought to be recruiting," Kincaid said.

Still, residents in Flint feel better knowing there are a few more people to protect them.

"It's really crazy out here now and I think we need more police officers," said Taresha Gulley, who lives and works in Flint.

Flint does plan to hire three more officers. They want to drum up interest at a local college and then send them to a police academy.