Lincoln council approves creation of crime analyst position and modest budget augmentation

The City of Lincoln on Tuesday adopted Resolution 2025-024 to create a full‑time crime analyst position in the police department, approve a salary schedule for the new classification and authorize a budget augmentation intended to fund the position.

Sam (police staff) presented the item, saying the new crime analyst will “manage large quantities of raw data collected during law enforcement activities” and use analysis to support strategies intended to reduce crime and increase public safety. The staff report requested the council establish one full‑time crime analyst and approve a budget augmentation that staff described in the meeting as “in the amount of $14,106 to fund 1,000 general fund” (as spoken in the presentation).

Council members asked whether reallocating funds from a vacant community services officer (CSO) position would reduce CSO services. Sam said the CSO role typically handled lower‑level documentation work and that the position had been vacant for nearly a year; patrol officers have absorbed the CSO duties, and staff said the department’s current workload supports creating a crime analyst.

There was no public comment on the item. A motion to approve the resolution passed on a roll call vote: Council member Eklund—yes; Mayor Pro Tem Brown—yes; Council member Reedy—yes; Council member Pearl—yes; Mayor Andreatta—yes.

The resolution establishes the classification and the salary schedule and directs the finance adjustments described in the staff report. Staff said the crime analyst position will be funded by the requested augmentation plus reallocated funding from the department’s vacant CSO position.