Central council hears detailed plan and financing options for a full-time police department

Officer John Doier of the Central Police Department presented the Fleck Committee's recommendation for future law enforcement in Central, proposing a "blended" full-time municipal department with 32 full-time and 12 part-time employees (44 total). He said the department would include uniform patrol on 12-hour shifts, detectives, full-time dispatch and support staff and estimated annual operating costs at about $4.625 million and startup costs near $1.4 million.

Doier framed the recommendation by citing a prior municipal experiment in New Iberia to warn of potential pitfalls of contracting primary policing to a parish sheriff. He said New Iberia disbanded its department in 2004 to contract with the sheriff and later reestablished a department in 2018 after concerns about service levels and local accountability.

Why it matters: City leaders face a choice between continuing a contract with the parish sheriff or investing in a permanent municipal agency. Doier and committee members argued a local department offers tailored patrol strategies, control over recruitment and training, dedicated data ownership and long-term asset building; opponents and some council members raised concerns about startup costs, legacy retirement obligations and recruitment competition with nearby departments.

Funding options presented included: a municipal court (estimated conservatively at about $1.3 million annually if enforcement levels scale with a full-time force) and automated school-zone speed-camera revenue from a vendor, Blue Line Solutions. Doier said Blue Line's sample testing recorded 24,167 vehicles during school-zone hours in a five-day study; after conservative adjustments the company projected a nine-month revenue figure of roughly $4.635 million gross, with the city's 60% share around $2.7 million (Doier noted conservative planning could reduce that to $500,000).

Council members pressed staff on several details. They asked about realistic chief-salary ranges (comparisons to neighboring cities ranged from about $92,000 to $150,000 depending on municipal size), the size of a required facility and grant availability for startup costs. Staff said they have applied for two grants (one identified at roughly $300,000 in the packet) and identified a grant that could cover 75% of officer salaries for three years and another specifically for construction and equipment.

Several council members said a full-time department could be feasible in the medium term (five to 10 years) if grant funding and other revenues bridge the startup gap; others favored remaining with the sheriff in the near term while planning a measured transition. No formal action or vote was taken; the item was recorded as a non-action presentation and discussion.

Ending: Council members asked staff to continue refining financial assumptions, pursue identified grants and return with further analysis. The council did not vote; the presentation will inform future budget workshops and deliberations.