Down to just a few officers, the Cobleskill Police Department is on the road back.
The village board Monday night added two more officers, bringing the PD close to trustees’ desired size.
Trustees hired Logan Wood, pending completion of a background check, as a K-9 officer, and brought back George Bird as deputy police chief.
The department has two full-time officers, and Officer Wood would be a third; there are also two part-timers. That total approaches five full-time and four part-time officers, which is what Mayor Becky Stanton-Terk budgeted for 2024.
The village hired Mr. Bird, a retired State Police investigator, as lieutenant investigator this summer, but he had to leave the force because of a Civil Service issue.
Making him deputy police chief avoids that problem.
Officer Wood is a trained K-9 officer and would bring his trained dog to the department, Mayor Stanton-Terk said.
Wilson, Cobleskill’s former K-9, retired earlier this year, and village officials decided the expense of training an officer and a dog was too much.
With a dog already trained, Cobleskill will have a K-9 unit without the expense.
“Nobody has to go through training,” Mayor Stanton-Terk said.
The hirings come as the village board tries to rebuild the Police Department after eight officers resigned in July. Trustees hired Jim McCrum as police chief in August, and he’s been recruiting officers, a slow process because of a shortage of candidates statewide.
Mayor Stanton-Terk, however, believes the process is moving well.
“Things are looking up,” she said. “It’s gone pretty fast, all things considered.”
Deputy Chief Bird starts today, Thursday, and Officer Wood would begin Monday, assuming his background check clears.