The City of Bridgeport hosted an informational session Thursday to discuss the department's lack of recruits.

Potential recruits packed the Police Academy on Newfield Avenue Thursday night to learn about how to become a Bridgeport police officer.

The city of Bridgeport's new police chief has made it the department's goal to get police staffing back to full strength and capacity.

There are currently more than 100 spots that need to be filled.

Lt. Angelo Collazo is the commander of the Bridgeport Police Academy. He says the meeting Thursday was about opening up potential candidates to the process and giving them the tools they need to become excellent candidates.

"I think it helps the City of Bridgeport. It shows people in the community that we care. We open the doors to the Police Academy, some people say this is like a secret place, but it's not. We have about 60 people in there and we're answering all of their questions live, no holds barred and letting them all know that we want to see them in blue uniforms helping us patrol the streets and work with the community," said Collazo.