Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police chief presents $13M FY2027 budget, cites staffing and grant constraints
Summary
Police Chief Dave Turlomysian told the Dover City Council the FY2027 police budget is roughly $13.0 million (a 5.3% increase of about $664,000), driven largely by personnel costs; he said the department is authorized for 56 officers but currently has 49 and cited COPS-grant retention rules that limit options to reduce sworn headcount.
Police Chief Dave Turlomysian presented the Dover Police Department’s proposed FY2027 budget to the City Council on March 4, describing personnel costs as the largest driver of the roughly $13.0 million plan and detailing department staffing and service trends.
Turlomysian said the department is authorized for 56 sworn officers and currently has 49 on staff, with one candidate under a conditional offer. He said the proposed budget represents a 5.3% increase — about $664,000 — and that earlier internal reductions and manager-level cuts removed about $80,000 before the proposal reached the council.
The chief pointed to a mix of factors behind the request. He cited contractual wage increases, training and staff development, matches for grant-funded positions and necessary technology replacements. One near-term contract change noted was funding of the department’s body-worn camera program on an annual payment schedule when the current six-year contract expires in March 2027.
Turlomysian also summarized operational trends: overall calls for service are down year over year while motor-vehicle stops have risen by about 19%. He emphasized a growing portion of the department’s workload comes from non-criminal social-service calls and mental-health related responses and highlighted community outreach programs such as the teen center and officer mentoring programs.
Councilors questioned whether lower crime statistics could justify pulling back investment. Turlomysian cautioned against divesting, saying the department is still below authorized staffing and noted the city recently accepted a federal COPS grant. He explained that the COPS grant carries retention obligations, which would require maintaining funded positions for the grant period and a retention year afterward, limiting the city’s ability to reduce sworn strength without returning grant funds.
On immigration enforcement, the chief said the department has maintained a long-standing policy (since 2012) of not proactively enforcing immigration law and does not investigate citizenship status; he added state law means the department cannot obstruct federal law-enforcement efforts.
The council did not take a formal vote on the police budget at the workshop; the presentation will feed into the formal public hearing and subsequent budget decisions.
