San Angelo Police Chief Scott Griffith (presenting the department’s items at the Aug. 5 budget workshop) asked the council to consider a package of one‑time and ongoing budget items intended to improve operations, evidence storage and patrol capacity.

Chief Griffith described current space shortages: “We are in a space, of a size of a department for about 45 men. We have a total allotted number of 174, which I'll be asking to go back up to 180,” he said. The department requested $250,000 for a finished portable building (about 2,900–4,000 square feet described in the workshop) to create temporary consolidated space for patrol and to free existing internal space for consolidated evidence storage.

Griffith told council the department stores evidence in about 15 locations and plans to consolidate down to three; he also requested funding for a third‑party evidence audit to inventory and recommend disposition of stored items. Other police items on the one‑time funding list included ammunition purchases (to phase in toward a target closer to $100,000 over several years) and body armor (offset in part by grant opportunities), plus a contract for professional police‑district mapping based on calls‑for‑service and geographic barriers to improve response times.

Nut graf: Chief Griffith framed the requests as necessary to maintain officer safety, improve investigative capacity and reduce operational fragmentation. He tied some requests to comparative gaps versus peer cities and argued for incremental funding rather than a single large ask.

Chief Griffith said some items would be offset by grant funding where available; he and staff noted they have explored cooperative purchasing options (co‑ops) to lower unit costs on equipment such as body armor. No formal council action was taken; the requests were presented for council discussion and possible inclusion in one‑time funding and the FY2025–26 operating budget.