New London — Strained by an increased workload and lack of manpower, the city’s police department is seeking City Council permission to promote a fifth detective.

Acting police Chief Peter Reichard on Tuesday said the department’s Detective Bureau, which handles the most serious, complex and time-consuming cases, has gone three years with just four detectives — two fewer than what they had in 2013 when Detective Franklin Jarvis retired and Detective Matthew Galante was promoted and left the detective division.

They were never replaced, but the workload has not changed.

“In fact, it’s increased over the last year and a half,” Reichard said. “It’s much more than the uniformed officers are capable of handling.”

Statistics provided by the department show the numbers of cases investigated by detectives has jumped from 96 in 2015 to 154 in 2016 — an increase mostly attributable to a spike in fatal and nonfatal drug overdose investigations. The nonfatal overdoses cases jumped from 22 in 2015 to 97 in 2016. There were 11 fatal overdose investigations in 2016 compared with six in 2015, according to police records.

Like law enforcement across the state facing the opioid addiction crisis, New London police have made a concerted effort to explore the possibility of criminal charges related to those overdoses — such as who supplied the drugs, Reichard said. Every overdose call initially becomes a crime scene, especially when it related to heroin or heroin laced with fentanyl, he said.

The department also is hoping to free up patrol officers’ time in a refocused effort in 2017 to break the trend of being a reactive department — getting officers out of their vehicles and meeting with residents to tackle quality-of-life issues, such as drug dealing and prostitution, Reichard said.

He said the department also is applying for state Department of Transportation grants to join in more statewide traffic, drunken driving and seat belt enforcement initiatives.

Chief Administrative Officer Steve Fields, a retired state police lieutenant colonel, said the point is to get additional resources to the detective division and at the same time free up patrol officers. He said more work in the community will lead to better relationships with residents and better knowledge by officers of the problems occurring in the neighborhoods.

Police union President Todd Lynch said the lack of detectives has patrol officers performing more investigative work, which means more time away from their beats. He summed up the situation by saying, “we have four people that are very much overworked.”

The cost to promote a patrol officer to detective is about $4,100 a year, but it would not immediately impact the current budget, Reichard said.

City Councilor Erica Richardson on Tuesday raised concerns about not only the cost but also the fact that another patrol officer would be pulled from the streets. City records show the department is about 11 officers short of the 80-officer minimum mandated by an ordinance passed by the previous council.

“I want a detective, but I want officers, as well,” Richardson said.

She also questioned how the department has 69 officers when it was apparently budgeted for just 67.

The request for promotion of a detective was sent to the Finance Committee for further review, a move that led to disappointment among other councilors.

At the urging of Mayor Michael Passero, followed by a motion by Councilor John Satti, the council attempted to remove the request from committee and force a vote by the full council. The request needed the approval of five councilors.

Richardson was joined by Council President Anthony Nolan, who is a New London police officer, and Councilor Efrain Dominguez in rejecting the move to bring the request to a full council vote.

The Finance Committee is expected to take up the request at a meeting later this month.

g.smith@theday.com