Manville chief outlines staffing shortfall, rising calls and construction‑site thefts

The Chief of Police (name not specified) told the City of Manville council the department needs additional sworn officers and support staff to keep pace with population growth, rising calls for service and evolving crime patterns.

The department reported 48 total staff, including 37 sworn officers, and said it aims to maintain a target of two sworn officers per 1,000 residents. With the city’s 2025 population estimate cited as 22,106, the chief said the recommended minimum is about 44 sworn officers. To close the gap he proposed adding three patrol officers, one investigator, one records clerk, one communications supervisor, one property and evidence technician, and, in a later phase tied to a new jail facility, one sergeant and four detention officers. The chief also proposed an assistant chief and two patrol lieutenants to serve as watch commanders.

The chief presented crime data covering 2021–2024. Key points he cited: calls for service rose about 12% (officer‑required responses up 68%); directed patrols surged 393%; traffic stops rose 15%; reports filed increased 24% and arrests increased in line with traffic enforcement. He said motor‑vehicle thefts and construction‑site thefts are an acute local problem: 67 thefts and burglaries were reported at construction sites in 2024. Burglary reports were cited as up roughly 172% and thefts up about 38% over the comparison period. The chief said complex investigations (burglary, arson, fraud) require more investigative hours — for example, the CID estimated 36 hours per burglary case on average and eight hours per theft case.

Council discussion focused on three near‑term policy areas: alarm responses and false‑alarm tracking; targeted, data‑driven patrols; and recruiting pipelines. Councilman Lance (who requested the presentation) pushed the department to identify nighttime hot spots and use directed patrols and drones; the chief described “directed patrols” and said the department has worked with Pearland and Iowa Colony on special assignments. Several councilors urged expanding data analysis capacity; the chief said the department currently relies on Pearland’s data analyst for nonstandard reports and that a records‑clerk position plus an analyst would allow better tracking of hot spots, repeat offenders and whether suspects reside inside or outside city limits.

Alarm responses drew sustained scrutiny. The chief said the department received 567 alarm calls in the period cited, with about 67 alarm responses recorded; residential and business alarms fell while false alarms rose in one category. The chief said responses are dispatched for all alarms but officers may be stood down if the alarm company or caller callbacks confirm a false alarm; the department does not yet have a consolidated analytics program for alarm tracking and proposed that a new records clerk would manage an alarm-monitoring module to generate accurate response and fine‑collection reports. Council members suggested calculating “expense per alarm” and tightening permit/enforcement to reduce false responses and risk to officers.

Other requests from the chief included a property and evidence technician, expanded support staff tied to new facilities, a full‑time emergency management coordinator and a special operations fund to pay for targeted patrols. Council members expressed support for hiring and retention actions, including tuition/recruitment pipelines with police academies; the chief said the department is processing backgrounds on multiple candidates and expects several hires this year.

Ending: Council asked staff to return with detailed cost estimates as part of the mid‑year budget discussion and to bring a follow‑up presentation on alarm analytics and data‑driven deployment.