Police chief reports no bias‑crime incidents this year, proposes SRO, canine pilot and dispatch upgrade funded from opioid settlement

Police Chief Brown presented the department's annual report and FY27 requests on May 12, telling council the city had no incidents that met the federal bias‑crime reporting definition this year after consultation with federal partners. "For the public, I will say that does not mean that there are not biases and or crimes happening in our community," Chief Brown said, and he encouraged residents to report incidents for review.

Brown summarized recruitment outcomes—"106 applicants, 13 were hired,"—and described two staffing proposals: conversion of an existing records position to a patrol officer for deployment flexibility, and a two‑year city-funded school/community officer intended to support the growing Biotech campus and coordinate with university security. Brown said the city has letters of support from partners, including the school district and regional airport, for the canine proposal, and suggested using opioid-settlement funds to seed a permanent endowment that could pay for a canine unit "into perpetuity" without using the general fund.

On capital needs, Brown sought $580,000 for a cloud-based, vendor-hosted dispatch system that would replace aging on-site servers and provide remote-capable workflows and wellness improvements for dispatch staff.

Council asked about program scope, funding transitions for positions initially funded by the city, and oversight of opioid-settlement expenditures; staff noted the $650,000 shown in the spreadsheet represents funds on hand and that the city expects additional settlement receipts in coming years.