2,000 Apply In Bridgeport Police Recruitment Effort

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A police recruitment effort in Bridgeport has yielded more than 2,000 applications, city officials said.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the candidates are from varied backgrounds, which was one of the goals in the effort that saw city officials working closely with communities.

"We need to have a department that reflects our community," Finch told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "Look, we saw what happened in Ferguson, where the Police Department was not at all in connection or representative of the community, and we don't want anything like to ever happen in Bridgeport."

Finch said despite the shortfall of officers on the force right now, Bridgeport has some of the lowest crime stats among big cities nationwide. That, he said, is because so many officers on the force grew up in the city. They know the ins and outs and the quirks of the neighborhoods in Bridgeport, Finch said.