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Mission police chief outlines grants, seizures, training and mental‑health outreach
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Summary
Police Chief presented department goals and an overview of grants, forfeitures, equipment purchases, training priorities, and a mental‑health outreach program covering about 500 residents.
Mission Police Chief presented the department’s goals and results for the fiscal year and described grant awards, equipment acquisitions, forfeiture totals and training priorities during Monday’s City Council meeting.
Chief Torres told the council the department has reduced crime rates in recent years and is operating with about 44.66% of its budget spent at the time of the report. He said the department received federal assistance that increased its overtime funding by $100,000 and listed more than $910,000 in awarded equipment and assets bought with grant or forfeiture proceeds, including four 911 towers, eight ATVs, body cameras, seven trucks and one transport van.
Nut graf: The presentation emphasized outside funding — grants and forfeitures — as a major source of new equipment and capacity for Mission PD and highlighted investments in training and mental‑health outreach intended to reduce arrests and improve community interactions.
Torres said the department is working on roughly 20 grant projects totaling about $3,000,000. He also summarized recent forfeitures from task‑force investigations: quantities of pills and narcotics, seized currency (about $3.84 million), seized vehicles and property, and other assets. “These seizures have yielded to approximately 6,300 pills of Axion … just shy of $4,000,000,” the chief said.
The chief described training priorities — de‑escalation, officer‑involved‑shooting response, defensive driving, use‑of‑force policy and fitness programs — and said the department has invested forfeiture funds to replace an old gym and to reduce workers’ compensation claims. He said Mission PD has a drone program used in searches and incident mapping and a mental‑health outreach program that has identified about 500 residents to receive periodic welfare checks and screening; a trained team responds to mental‑health incidents.
Councilmembers praised the equipment and grants and asked for clearer, easier‑to‑read reports. Councilmember commented that public relations should highlight the department’s outreach work. The chief said grants are tracked in‑house and with an external contact, Michael Isaldi. No formal action was taken.
Ending: Council thanked the chief and moved on to the chamber report and subsequent agenda items.
