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UPD: leadership changes, new lieutenant and budget allocation questions raised at Copperton meeting
Summary
The Unified Police Department introduced Lieutenant Chris Benedict for Copperton and described a $40,000 apparent allocation discrepancy in the UPD budget that staff said they will research and correct after the county-level budget vote.
At the June 18 Copperton Town Council meeting, Unified Police Department representatives reported personnel changes and budget details affecting member assessments.
Detective Ted Polk gave the department report for May and introduced Lieutenant Chris Benedict, who said he will serve Copperton following a transfer. "I'm the new lieutenant for Copperton," Benedict said, summarizing his patrol-command experience and asking residents to contact him if they have concerns.
Council and staff also discussed the UPD budget. Linda (UPD representative) told the council the UPD budget to be finalized the next day is $66,400,000 with an overall increase of about $2.74 million; the preliminary allocation to Copperton showed a $40,000 rise for the town. Dell (UPD finance staff) said he had identified a likely misallocation and asked the council to approve the budget as scheduled while he researches and, if needed, brings a budget adjustment later. "What I'm going to ask you to do is that we pass the budget as is tomorrow. I will come back, and I will...figure out if there is in fact an allocation error, I believe there is, and we'll fix that," Dell said.
Dell noted that some costs shown in the precinct operations line are direct costs the precinct can control, including a $6,000 surveillance camera item that may warrant discussion before final allocation. Council members asked for a follow-up meeting and Dell offered to meet virtually to review the allocation.
