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Sanger police chief reviews 2024 staffing, equipment and community outreach; no council action taken
Summary
Chief Chitty Casper briefed the Sanger City Council on 2024 crime and operations, citing near-18,000 calls tracked under Mark43, $150,000 in grants for Axon equipment, vehicle procurement delays, vacancies and plans to consider automated camera systems; council took no formal action.
Chief Chitty Casper presented a year-end review of the Sanger Police Department on behalf of the department, outlining staffing levels, crime statistics, equipment upgrades and community engagement efforts for 2024.
Casper said the department recorded “just under 400” offenses for the year and, after switching to the Mark 43 records system, tracked almost 18,000 dispatched or self-initiated calls, “about 1,500 a month.” He said traffic stops accounted for about 2,200 of those contacts.
The review highlighted technology and equipment investments funded in part by grants. “We applied for and were awarded $150,000 in grants,” Casper said, adding that the award funded Axon body cameras and that “the state grant for the body cameras paid for about 75% of the cam cost.” He described features being evaluated — dash and body camera integration, license-plate-reading capability and real-time viewing — and said staff will discuss configuration options with Axon at a June 12 meeting.
Casper described personnel and fleet status: the department is operating with multiple vacancies (he said one detective vacancy and three officer vacancies), recent resignations, and vehicles delayed at a Defender lot because of broader supply shortages. He said the department ordered three new patrol vehicles and had “7 to 12 vehicles sitting in Defender on the lot waiting for that update.”
Casper outlined acquisitions and upgrades already completed or planned — roll-out of electronic ticketing, replacement of Panasonic Toughbooks with Dell laptops, issuance of additional ballistic shields and replacement of older TASERs with TASER 7 devices — and said the department filled two civilian positions with Paula Sue and Renee Berg.
On community engagement, Casper listed regular outreach such as library readings, National Night Out, school presentations and seasonal gift giveaways. He described the department’s online complaint-and-compliment intake (Frontline) and said the more active public feedback comes through the electronic ticketing system, which has yielded roughly 2,000 responses and an average rating “about 4.6.”
Casper also raised operational capacity concerns: the property room is at capacity and the front office area and facilities need upgrades to support current staffing. For crime-prevention tools, he said the department is exploring a Flock-style automated camera network used by some North Texas cities and suggested discussing camera placement with businesses and developers.
The presentation included training highlights, with sergeants and officers attending supervisory and tactical courses; Casper said sergeants will attend a TPCA supervisory program and other planned trainings include mental-health awareness and traffic incident management.
No formal council vote or directive was recorded during the presentation; Casper indicated some follow-up items (for example, the June 12 meeting with Axon) but the council did not take formal action on the items discussed.
Casper closed by saying the department will continue community engagement and proactive policing as the city grows.
