Manvel public safety leaders ask council to fund expanded staffing, training and emergency upgrades in 2026 budget presentations

Assistant Chief Rick Alvarado presented the Manvel Police Department’s proposed 2025–26 budget during a June workshop, saying the department seeks additional personnel, vehicles and equipment to staff a newly completed public safety facility and respond to rising service demands.

“The police department is dedicated to protecting life and property, maintaining public order, and enhancing the quality of life for all residents through community oriented policing,” Assistant Chief Rick Alvarado told the mayor and council. He outlined staffing and equipment requests that include a personnel increase of 16 positions to bring the department’s workforce to roughly 67, funding for vehicle replacements and additions, expanded body cameras and radios, ballistic helmets, and new forensic and investigative equipment.

Why it matters: Public safety is the city’s largest department by staffing and budget. Council members repeatedly said they value having current staff supplied and trained, but asked for clearer, itemized costings and the supporting data used to project increases in arrests, traffic stops and calls for service.

Key requests and context - Personnel: The department presented a request to add 16 staff across multiple divisions (patrol, cadets, criminal investigations, records, jail supervision, communications and custodial) that would raise authorized staffing from about 50 to about 67 employees; staff said the $2,103,000 figure presented covered proposed salaries but that benefits would raise the “fully loaded” cost. City Manager Dan Johnson said benefits will be added to create a fully loaded cost estimate. - Vehicles and equipment: Police asked for replacements and additional patrol vehicles, portable radios, eight more body cameras, ballistic helmets for patrol officers (previously limited to the special response team), small radar trailers and evidence/crime‑scene equipment for CID. - Training changes: Alvarado described new Texas Commission on Law Enforcement training requirements (four range days per year), requested funds for more firearms and scenario training, and recommended some specialized fighting‑tactics training his staff said is being adopted by other agencies.

Council questions and clarifications - Patrol vehicles vs. officers: Council members asked why the vehicle request did not equal the number of proposed patrol hires. Captain Dape explained take‑home car policies and usage: “Generally, patrol officers don't live within the take home ride circle. So it's 2 officers for each patrol car. So if there's 4 officers, then we only need 2 cars.” - DWI and warrants: Council asked whether the increase in DWI arrests and warrants reflected new restaurant/nightlife or more proactive enforcement. Alvarado and staff tied the DWI increases to proactive highway enforcement near 288 and Highway 6; warrant increases were attributed to more proactive investigations and the use of camera systems that helped investigators identify suspects.

Fire marshal and training system Fire Marshal Shauna (last name not specified in the transcript) summarized the Fire Marshal Office’s work and asked for a live extinguisher training system (estimated $14,000–$30,000) to provide hands‑on extinguisher and live‑fire simulation training under NFPA guidance. She described the borrowed system the department used and said the city’s purchase would allow realistic training and eventual outreach to local businesses. The office also requested an administrative clerk and described higher inspection and permit volumes year to date.

Code enforcement and animal control - Code enforcement requested a combined code/health officer and a vehicle; staff said the new position would focus on health inspections and code compliance and requested a salary in the mid‑$50,000 range. - Animal Control reported higher calls for service and asked for roughly $8,000 in equipment and software (including portable carrier/taxi items) to support impound, reunification and adoption activities. Officer Sherman said the new public safety facility will improve animal care but that a long‑term facility plan is still needed.

Emergency management requests and long‑term mitigation Jamie, the city’s new emergency management coordinator, presented a short list of near‑term software and equipment asks (~$30,000) and a much larger set of future, grant‑oriented projects including a community siren network (roughly $500,000), digital road signage, critical culvert and ditch improvements (listed in the planning slides at approximately $500,000), water access points ($200,000), and a community shelter (roughly $3 million). Jamie recommended starting with a modest, immediate package (alerts/ArcGIS/Starlink backup) while pursuing grants for larger mitigation projects.

No vote; next steps Council did not take any budget votes at the workshop. Staff and department heads were directed to refine the requests, provide fully loaded salary figures (including benefits), and come back with updated cost breakdowns and any grant strategies where appropriate.

Ending: Council agreed to continue budget presentations across summer meetings; public safety was the opening workshop and additional department budget presentations were scheduled in June and July as staff work toward an August 1 draft required by charter.