Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Update topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police chief outlines staffing gains, traffic unit build-out and fleet, body-camera and court cost pressures
Summary
Police Chief Harden reported recent staffing changes, specialty unit developments, traffic enforcement plans, crime hotspots and operational needs including vehicle replacements and time-consuming body‑worn-camera redaction that is straining staff time. He also warned of rising court-related costs and public-defense expense pressures.
Police Chief Harden updated the council on staffing, enforcement priorities and operational challenges, identifying progress on specialty units and several resource gaps the city faces.
Harden said the department has hired six new officers and promoted or reassigned five staff in the last two years; one lateral applicant is in background checks for an open patrol slot, a sergeant is retiring in May and another officer has a planned separation, leaving further vacancies.
Specialty units Harden described include a nearly operational traffic unit — to be overseen by Commander Zenilla with Sergeant Walker as the traffic sergeant and Officer Carl Karlsruhe already assigned to traffic — and a dedicated traffic support officer, Amanda Johnson. Harden said the department plans extra patrols, regular radar-trailer deployment, improved citizen communication and is considering e‑bikes for patrol on the Burke-Gilman Trail and in town center.
Harden said the department’s detective unit reduced a caseload from roughly 80-plus cases to about 45 through recent staffing and workload adjustments. He also cited program launches: the UAV drone equipment and staff certification, the K-9 program (K9 Bella), an operational SWAT position and a planned Flock license-plate-reader system as tools for investigations.
Harden identified recurring crime locations and types: property crime and retail theft at stores such as Ross, Rite Aid and Albertsons; calls at the town center and gas stations (Arco, Chevron); city parks (Horizon View, Animal Acres, Lion Creek and Grace Cole); apartment complexes (Woodland North, Wildwood Apartments, Watercrest); and other businesses including Taco Bell and marijuana dispensaries. He singled out a local business, Deja Vu, when noting repeated calls to specific locations.
Operational constraints Harden stressed include a deteriorating vehicle fleet (more than 10 vehicles overdue for replacement; an immediate need for four vehicles), and a mounting workload for public-records redaction of body‑worn-camera footage that consumes staff time. He said the department has auto‑redaction tools but staff must review footage and manually redact sensitive information, and that the process is time‑intensive when multiple officer cameras exist for a single incident.
Harden and City Administrator Hill also discussed court and public-defense cost pressures. Hill noted the city currently pays about $10,000 a month for public defenders and that anticipated workload and court-hour changes could increase that cost substantially.
Harden said locker-room upgrades are scheduled (March 24), union negotiations are in redlining, and the department is working to reestablish traffic-enforcement visibility and public expectations for enforcement in the city.
No formal resolutions or expenditures were approved during the report; Harden said a fuller annual report and a vehicle-fleet briefing will follow at a future meeting.
