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Carlsbad council approves funding request to add six police positions; recruitment to begin
Summary
The City Council unanimously approved a resolution to appropriate one-time FY24-25 funds and FY25-26 budget increases to recruit three officers, a special‑events sergeant, an ICAC detective and a digital forensic specialist.
The Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved funding to authorize six new positions in the police department and to begin recruitment immediately.
Police Chief Christy Calderwood and Assistant Chief Reed Shipley presented a staffing request that included three patrol police officers, one special‑events sergeant, one Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detective and one digital forensic specialist. The council approved a resolution authorizing $690,400 in one‑time appropriations for the current fiscal year and $1,396,399 in FY2025‑26 budget increases to cover salary, benefits and position‑related costs.
Chief Calderwood said the requests represent immediate operational needs rather than discretionary expansions. Added patrol officers were described as necessary to improve response times, reduce reliance on repeated overtime by the same officers and to free existing staff to fill investigative roles. Calderwood said the special‑events sergeant would support traffic division responsibilities for roughly 40 annual events, which currently falls to a single sergeant supervising a large span of control. The ICAC detective would focus on online exploitation and digital‑heavy investigations; the digital forensic specialist (a civilian position) would perform data extraction and analysis to speed investigations and support prosecutions.
The presentation included budget details: $690,400 requested as a one‑time FY2024‑25 appropriation to purchase safety equipment and vehicles, $1,212,903 for FY2025‑26 salary and benefits, and $183,496 for one‑time and ongoing position costs, totaling $1,396,399 for FY2025‑26. Calderwood said recruitment and background checks take three to six months and council approval now would allow hiring processes to begin immediately.
A public commenter suggested broader role naming conventions and coordination with other agencies for training and enforcement, and a council member asked whether the ICAC detective would split caseloads; Calderwood said the ICAC detective would primarily handle exploitation cases and could coordinate with the child abuse detective when cases involve Carlsbad residents. Council members expressed support for reducing overtime burdens, improving traffic enforcement capacity and accelerating digital evidence processing.
Councilmember Bob Patel moved the resolution; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Burkholder and passed unanimously.
