Jupiter Police Chief Michael Barbera told council on Aug. 7 that the department had sworn in six new officers earlier that week and that, with two additional hires in process, "we are 95% fully staffed." He highlighted improved emergency response times and a rise in complex financial crimes.

Chief Barbera said priority (P1) response time from dispatch to officer arrival fell from an average of 5 minutes, 12 seconds (Jan'June 2024) to 4 minutes, 33 seconds year-to-date 2025. He noted the dispatch interval averages roughly 51 seconds from call pick-up to dispatch; the cited time is measured from dispatch to officer arrival. "That's pretty impressive in my mind," the chief said.

Barbera emphasized that fraud and financial crimes are increasing and more complex: counterfeiting, embezzlement, credit-card fraud, identity theft and extortion have required detectives to pursue subpoenas, bank records and longer investigations that may last months. "These cases can take months," he said, adding some have lasted more than a year. To reduce victimization the department has run community presentations, flyers on Bitcoin ATMs, social-media posts and a "Be Scam Smart" page on the department website.

Barbera also said Part I person offenses (assaults, batteries, homicides) are down compared with earlier years and credited neighborhood video, license-plate readers and interagency coordination. "I personally think we're 1 of the best police departments in the State of Florida," Barbera said, adding that reputational deterrents work for local person crimes but not for international online fraud schemes.

Councilors asked about the causes of improved response times; Barbera attributed it to better district configuration and officer positioning. He and the mayor thanked officers and staff for participation in National Night Out events earlier in the week.

Ending: Councilors praised the department's outreach and prevention work and requested continued public fraud-education efforts.