Wylie Police outline five‑year staffing, training and equipment plan; council hears increases for SROs, patrol and mental‑health services

The Wylie Police Department presented a five‑year overview to the City Council on April 8 that proposes adding sworn officers, supervisory positions and specialized staff to meet growing public‑safety demands as the city expands.

Chief Henderson said the department’s authorized strength is 123 total positions—76 sworn and 47 civilian—and that it hired 22 new employees in 2024. The department currently has three unfilled positions and several officers in academy training. Henderson said the goal is to reduce overtime and allow officers to take leave and training without leaving shifts short.

Key elements of the five‑year plan presented to council include:

- Adding two school resource officers (SROs) per year over an initial period to address rising calls for service at intermediate and junior high schools. - Adding two patrol officers in the near term and building patrol staffing by approximately 10 officers over five years to improve proactive enforcement and reduce reliance on overtime. - Creating a dedicated mental‑health supervisor and a multidisciplinary mental‑health response unit; the department’s existing mental‑health…