Council hears proposed supplementals: drones, ballistic glass, crime analyst reclassification and new fire support captain

Lede: Tomball staff described a set of proposed supplementals for FY26 that include new operational equipment and personnel changes intended to support public safety, records and parks operations.

Nut graf: Staff grouped supplementals into one-time and recurring costs and emphasized prioritization of needs over "nice-to-have" items. Several public-safety items were highlighted as high priority by staff and council members during discussion.

Body: The police chief described the city's drone program and requested new mapping software that would automate drone-derived mapping and improve scene-reconstruction accuracy; the chief said the software would make investigations faster and more precise: "This new software ... would instead of officers having to fly a drone and then plot points, by hand, this this drone does it, automatically down to the millimeter." Staff said the recurring maintenance cost for drone software would move into the base budget if the supplemental is approved.

Another public-safety supplemental seeks ballistic windshield and driver-door armor panels for patrol vehicles. Staff described the panels as a one-time equipment request to improve officer safety when exiting vehicles. The police chief discussed prior, local incidents and defended the measure as a "force multiplier" for officer safety.

The police department also asked to reclassify a jailer position to a crime analyst; staff said the reclassification would better support real-time crime mapping, social-media and intelligence analysis, and detective support. The salary difference between a jailer and a crime analyst was shown as approximately $20,100 in the presentation.

Fire staff proposed a new full-time "captain of support services" position to manage training, logistics and apparatus maintenance scheduling. Fire presenters said training hours and equipment logistics have increased substantially and that dedicated supervision would improve certification tracking, equipment maintenance scheduling and preventative maintenance decisions for heavy apparatus.

The parks department requested two park-servicemen positions and a zero-turn mower to help maintain restrooms, landscape beds and turf at parks and event sites; staff said higher event turnout and more facilities increased the maintenance workload.

Ending: Staff emphasized that most supplemental requests are targeted to essential functions rather than discretionary programs; council will consider the supplementals in the next meeting and at the formal budget hearings. No votes were taken at the workshop.