City Administrator Faye Johnson and Police Chief Tony Araujo presented an operational update to the City Commission on the status of the West Palm Beach Police Department, outlining recruitment, training and capital investments planned or already funded.

Johnson summarized personnel and compensation steps taken across recent fiscal years to improve pay and benefits and attract candidates, including two three‑year collective bargaining agreements and a 3% cost-of-living increase for FY 2026. Chief Araujo said the department completed an embedded operational review with an outside team and addressed identified shortfalls in training, accountability and communications; he said the department regained full accreditation in April following corrective work. "Your police department is at best practice," Araujo told the commission.

Chief Araujo and command staff listed several operational actions and near-term plans: recruiting initiatives that produced a large applicant pool and are yielding hires (the department reported 27 new police officers and seven new professional staff FTEs in the current hiring cycle), expanded training funding for FY 2026 including FBI leadership training for senior staff, a restructured professional standards unit to perform regular inspections, and a citywide area supervisory model and sector policing system to increase accountability at the patrol level.

Araujo described investments in technology and equipment: new Motorola portable radios and a portable radio tower to improve reception, updated night-vision and range equipment for SWAT, additional drones and a nationally recognized drone program (the department intends to deploy drones as a first-responder tool), expanded camera and license-plate-reader installations and replacement of patrol vehicles and specialty command vehicles. He said roughly $66 million in police department infrastructure and equipment work has been allocated by the city for repairs and upgrades and that some large items had been ordered and were awaiting delivery. "This completes my presentation," Araujo said, closing his remarks.

Araujo also addressed building conditions at the police department headquarters and said remediation and repair work is underway; he told commissioners the building’s air quality is safe and that contractors are coordinating phased repairs to limit staff displacement. The chief said the department will open a rehabilitated community engagement/Explorer Post space for youth programming and that a chaplaincy and partnership with private security providers and non‑police agencies are in planning.

Commissioners asked about stratified and sector policing, overtime and hiring; the chief said the department reviews deployment weekly and is implementing data-driven hot‑spot tactics and an area supervisory model for closer oversight. The chief said overtime will likely remain a necessary tool for events and critical incidents but that the new hires and technology aim to reduce mandatory overtime over time. The commission did not take formal action at the briefing; commissioners requested ongoing quarterly briefings on police operations and thanked the chief and command staff for the update.