Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Police topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Winooski Police present FY26 budget, cite time-intensive mental-health and narcotics work; regional dispatch uncertainty remains
Summary
Chief Justin Eising presented the police department’s FY26 budget and said officers are spending more time on fewer calls, particularly mental-health and welfare checks. The department reported recent narcotics seizures and asked council to weigh regional dispatch options while staffing and recruitment remain priorities.
Chief Justin Eising presented the Winooski Police Department’s proposed FY26 budget and an overview of operations to the city council, focusing on staffing, call types and emerging issues.
Lede/nut graf: The chief said overall call volume has fallen in recent years but that officers now spend substantially more time on individual incidents — especially mental-health crises and welfare checks — which reduces capacity for proactive patrols. He also described narcotics seizures, a rise in motor-vehicle thefts and an ongoing staffing vacancy.
Eising said the department is organizing resources around the 21st Century Policing framework and that some of the decline in raw call counts reflects longer average response times for complex incidents. “These calls for service can take a significant amount of time — sometimes eight to ten hours — to resolve,” he said, describing mental-health and welfare checks.
The department converted the long-standing school resource officer role to a district liaison officer (DLO) and introduced Sajah Amgali, the new DLO, who said she will respond to schools as needed but will not be stationed there full time. Eising said the change was intended to broaden wraparound services and support across agencies.
The police budget presentation flagged a sustained focus on narcotics enforcement: the department reported recent drug seizures and said narcotics-related cases are increasingly linked to organized activity and to human-trafficking investigations. Chief Eising said motor-vehicle thefts rose sharply, with 33 incidents in one year.
Regional dispatch remains unsettled. Finance staff and the chief explained three possible paths if the countywide regional dispatch effort does not proceed: (1) continue toward the regional plan, (2) contract with another municipal dispatch provider, or (3) expand in-house dispatch capacity. The city is holding $67,000 in regional-dispatch funds and staff proposed a placeholder of roughly $26,000 in the FY26 operating budget to cover potential local expenses if regional dispatch is not available; councilors asked staff to hold until the statewide system-design report is released (the city was told a final design was expected in March 2025).
On staffing, the chief said recruiting and retention remain challenges but that two recently graduated officers are in field training and will be available soon. He also described the department’s diversity metrics (about 30% female employees and 26% identifying as BIPOC) and said the department is focusing on professional development, cruiser cameras and community outreach.
Ending: Councilors thanked the chief, welcomed the new DLO and asked police and finance staff to return with more detailed cost and staffing projections for final budget decisions.
