The New Haven Police Department must pay recruits for every hour they spend training at the academy, the Connecticut Department of Labor ruled. Since at least the 1990s, police paid recruits for 40 hours of work no matter how much they actually spent at the academy. With the new decision, police say changes to academy structure are imminent. New Haven Police Chief James Lewis told the New Haven Register that the academy has halted physical training for recruits and is considering ending the practice where recruits ride-along with on-duty officers for a shift. Recent academy graduates must be given back pay for the hours they were not paid under the old policy, the Labor Department said.