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Police chief urges phased pay and civilian support to reduce overtime; highlights grant wins and drone program
Summary
Police Chief Travis described steps to civilianize administrative duties and proposed public‑safety support positions to free patrol officers. He asked council to consider phased pay increases and outlined extensive grant work and a drone first‑responder program expected to multiply capacity.
Police leadership said staffing shortfalls and overtime are eroding morale and service capacity and asked council to consider a phased approach to pay and a mix of sworn and non‑sworn hires.
Chief Travis said his department has reduced some overhead by moving administrative work to civilian staff and leveraging grants and partnerships, but vacancies remain high. He proposed adding public‑safety support positions (non‑sworn) — an initial target of 10 such positions — to free sworn officers for patrol and reduce overtime. Travis estimated larger staffing improvements and a multi‑year retention strategy could require multimillion‑dollar commitments over time, and he requested council consider multi‑year pay steps like peer cities have used.
The chief also reviewed grant successes (over $5.1 million in external funding and donations across police and fire) and noted the department will deploy a drone for first‑responder situational awareness. He said some grants provide staffing for positions that otherwise would be recurring local expense.
Representative quote: "If we can get these public safety support positions, that will free up two officers a day conservatively," the chief said, describing the effect of non‑sworn support on patrol availability.
Ending note: Council members asked Human Resources to prepare turnover and exit data; the chief asked to return with a concrete phased compensation plan and recruitment outcomes.
