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Police chief briefs council on staffing gains, telephone reporting unit and downtown surveillance cameras
Summary
Chief Salter presented a high-level overview of department staffing, recruitment improvements after a pay raise, the telephone reporting unit, downtown camera network and animal-shelter upgrades; the department reported 11,055 calls for service since Jan. 1 and other operational metrics.
Chief of Police Salter gave a detailed overview of the Paris Police Department at the July 28 council meeting, covering organizational structure, staffing, recruitment progress, and several operational initiatives.
Chief Salter said the department is currently down seven officers department-wide, improved from being 21 officers short 18 months earlier after a council-approved pay raise helped attract applicants. He reported that patrol responded to 11,055 calls for service since Jan. 1 and that a newly created telephone-reporting unit and an online reporting system have helped reduce patrol workload for incidents that do not require an on-scene response.
Other reported statistics included 347 motor-vehicle accident reports since Jan. 1 and 473 criminal cases assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) since Jan. 1, with 77 auto-theft cases. The department said CID currently has six investigators. The department also described the Northeast Texas Motor Vehicle Task Force and a point investigator, Detective Cody Logsdon, credited for active enforcement work.
Chief Salter highlighted community-oriented initiatives: a downtown video surveillance network of 16 cameras placed last year that staff said coincided with a drop in vandalism, expanded animal-shelter facilities (1,744 animals taken in year-to-date with breakdowns for dogs and cats provided), and a community-outreach program led by Community Outreach Coordinator Kimmy Snowdon. Salter said outreach included events such as Coffee with Cops and the recent Unity with the Community, and described the Citizens on Patrol volunteer program and plans to restart a Citizens Police Academy in January.
Dispatch, records, property and evidence, and animal shelter operations were described in detail, with the chief noting staffing constraints in some units and the need for redaction resources for public-information requests. Salter also noted department successes in streamlining evidence processing and returning long-held items such as gravestones to families.
(Ending) Councilmembers asked about camera placement in parks, outreach to specific youth groups and other community engagement strategies; the chief said the department would expand camera coverage in public parks and continue community programs as staffing allows.
