Five new officers were sworn in at the Youngstown Police Department to protect and serve the members of the community.

They're replacing existing officers who have left the department, so the new officers are not increasing the number of officers in the city.

Police Chief Carl Davis tells 21 News the department is still lacking officers so he plans to bring more people on board.

In the meantime, the recent hires will take some of the load off of other law enforcement.

"It's especially a big relief for the officers working that are presently working," said Chief Davis. "Answering calls from call to call, being mandated to work overtime, this will absolutely give them some relief," he said.

The new officers will help with patrolling and keeping crowds under control to prevent a repeat of the bar shootings that left several people dead over the last few months.

"We have taken increased enforcement measures at the bars," said Youngstown Police Captain Jason Simon. "Specifically downtown but other bars as we've become aware of issues there where we have increased officer presence around closing time or if an issue arises," he said.
While police are working to make the city safer, investigations into those bar shootings are still ongoing.

City officials say it's frustrating that the investigation has been taking so long but they understand that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which analyzes evidence in cases dealing with blood, drugs, and guns, is understaffed and overwhelmed.

"Victim's families think that we're not doing our jobs," said Youngstown Law Director Jeff Limbian. "And unfortunately our hands are tied until we have either the ballistic information or the drug or the alcohol information to actually process the case," he said.

Chief Davis says staffing is at the lowest level he's seen in his entire career with the department.

"Officers are working a lot of extra hours because we're short of staff," said Simon. "So this new hires, once they're trained and on the road, we'll be able to kind of fill those voids that we have, and officers won't have to work as much overtime and they'll be a little more rested on their shifts," he said.

Chief Davis tells 21 News he'll be meeting with bar owners tomorrow.