County Executive, Public Safety leadership announce NCCPD return to fully authorized strength

NEW CASTLE - The New Castle County Department of Police reached its fully authorized strength of 415 officers with the opening of the 54^th Police Academy this week. The academy class of 52 recruits features 50 new recruit officers and two pre-certified officers transferring from other police agencies.

"Keeping our communities safe is one of my top priorities," County Executive Marcus Henry said. "Reaching our police department's full staffing authorization is something the County has been trying to do for years, and we've managed to meet this goal in our administration's first eight months. I applaud the recruitment efforts of our department leadership in getting us here so quickly."

This is the first time the New Castle County Department of Police has achieved its fully authorized staffing level in over a decade, and the first time it reached 415 officers since New Castle County Council expanded the authorized force level from 400 to 415 in February of 2021.

"This is an important accomplishment that allows us to expand our community engagement while preserving our core mission of protecting residents and visitors of New Castle County," New Castle County Police Chief Col. James Leonard said. "Thank you to the members of the Professional Development Unit, and of course this wouldn't be possible without the steadfast commitment of our new County Executive."

This achievement was also made possible by legislation County Executive Henry signed this summer that raised the mandatory retirement age of the county's officers from 55 to 57. That change meant 26 officers who would have been forced to retire over the next five years are able to remain on the job.

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