At a Biloxi City Council budget workshop to review the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 municipal budget, Police Chief Miller and council members focused on police staffing, vehicle replacement and recruitment strategies, saying the department remains below authorized strength and faces rising equipment and training costs.

Police Chief Miller said the department is prioritizing recruitment next year. “Our objectives in 2026, certainly a major push for recruitment,” Chief Miller said, adding that the city expects seven newly hired officers to start in the next three weeks but that academy and field training will delay their full deployment.

The chief and council members repeatedly cited a current sworn-strength figure of about 130 officers and an authorized complement of roughly 147 officers. Chief Miller described a longer-term staffing target of 170 officers, and a personal goal of 200 officers to cover the city’s daily population and major events. He said the department regularly relies on out‑of‑town officers for large events and overtime.

Council members and staff reviewed budget documents that propose adding positions in the police department, including non‑sworn roles. The draft budget shows an increase of 15 police positions (the document shows police headcount rising from about 216 positions to 231 when fully funded), and also proposes two “intel research specialists” and four booking officers to keep sworn officers on patrol. Councilman Marshall and others supported shifting some duties to non‑sworn personnel to reduce overtime.

Fleet and equipment needs were a recurring concern. Council questions and police responses indicated a fleet count of about 160 vehicles on the books, though not all are operational; roughly 140 vehicles are assigned and likely to be on the road daily. The chief and finance staff said the transportation/vehicle purchase line in the police budget is about $571,000. The department said typical replacement cycles for marked patrol units are about five years and that upfitting a new patrol vehicle can cost in the neighborhood of $80,000 depending on equipment and role.

Cost estimates discussed included an approximate $100,000 to outfit and train a new sworn officer (the chief said the state reimbursement offsets some academy costs) and roughly $800,000 in police overtime in the current year, a figure council members said could approach $1 million depending on year‑end events. Council members and finance staff explained that insurance and benefits increases are being budgeted based on current enrollment and that vacant positions in the budget also carry projected insurance costs.

Other, smaller items discussed in the police budget included adding a third animal control officer to extend weekday/weekend coverage, software and evidence-tracking upgrades (PadTracks and related systems) and building maintenance for patrol briefing and garage facilities. Laura Slater of the finance department answered technical budget questions about how insurance and positions were counted in the draft.

Why it matters: policing expenses — salaries, overtime, vehicles and training — form a large share of the municipal budget; choices about hiring, vehicle replacement cycles and adding non‑sworn staff will affect patrol coverage for residents and event policing costs.

Looking ahead: council members moved to continue budget work before the next regular meeting and signaled they will press staff for additional detail on vacancies, training pipelines and the vehicle‑replacement plan.