Manville police chief urges equipment upgrades and pay improvements as staffing plan stretches to 2031

Chief Blake presented the Manville Police Department's 2025 staffing and crime report and outlined a multi-year budget request the department says is needed to keep pace with rapid population growth. The city's population was estimated at about 24,000, the chief said, and the department currently has 39 sworn officers compared with a 2-per-10,000-residents target that implies 47 sworn officers.

The presentation included a new five-year staffing plan that the department updated to run through 2031. "Our total number of sworn officers should be at 47. The department currently sits at 39," Chief Blake said in the presentation, underscoring an estimated shortfall that the plan aims to close as the city grows.

Why it matters: the chief framed the request as part of preserving response time standards and officer safety as the city adds housing and commercial development. He said the department forecasts growth using building permit data and an assumed average of three residents per household; under a higher-growth scenario the city would need roughly six new officers per year to maintain the 2:10,000 ratio.

Budget and equipment asks: Blake identified three immediate equipment priorities: replacing portable radios, upgrading body cameras and mobile in-car video systems, and acquiring two to three replacement patrol vehicles. He said the department's radios and cameras are at end-of-life and that a Motorola 10-year contract could amortize body-camera costs beginning in FY27-28. "With the body camera system and the radios, they work hand-in-hand," he said, explaining contract timing and lifecycle benefits.

Personnel and pay: the chief requested five patrol officers (to correct an odd-numbered shift), one criminal investigator, a communications supervisor and the return of the patrol cadet pipeline. He also highlighted a salary gap relative to area agencies. A departmental salary survey presented by Captain Day showed Manville's starting and top-out pay below the market median. "We lost officers earlier this year because other agencies increased pay," Blake said, adding that the department is considering restructuring its step/development program to accelerate pay progression and push top pay closer to the 75th percentile for the region.

Crime trends and operations context: Blake showed crime reporting and response data, noting a recent decline in priority emergency calls and a 6.5-minute average emergency response time from 2022 to 2025. He attributed changes in incident counts to a mix of factors (construction-related crashes, seasonal variation and proactive patrols) and cautioned against overinterpreting single-year shifts. He also said a recent rise in burglary counts reflected thefts of electrical breakers that are reported as burglary when taken from homes, and said arrests tied to an out-of-area theft ring were made in targeted operations.

What council asked for next: council members asked for more data linking patrol strategies to outcomes, per-vehicle replacement justification (mileage, maintenance), and a concrete compensation package with cost estimates tied to any proposed step or restructuring plan. The mayor and council supported the department's priorities but asked staff to present costed options to guide budget decisions ahead of formal adoption.