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Police chief outlines 2025 budget priorities: training reimbursements, K‑9 and drone requests, body‑worn camera grant
Summary
At a Ross Township special meeting the police chief reviewed 2025 budget estimates, saying the state will reimburse up to 40 hours per officer for mandated CPT training, announcing a pending body‑worn camera grant application, and asking trustees to approve line‑items (K‑9, drone, evidence‑room upgrades) conditional on grant funds or forfeiture proceeds.
The police chief presented highlights of the proposed 2025 police budget to Ross Township trustees, emphasizing training reimbursements, an applied-for body‑worn camera grant, and requests for a K‑9 and drone that he said could be funded with outside grants or forfeiture proceeds.
Training: the chief said the state will reimburse up to 40 hours per officer for continuing professional training (CPT). "I estimated 5K; that's probably be closer to $9,000 — we will get back" he said, explaining the township will use reimbursement to expand higher‑level training opportunities.
Body‑worn cameras and grants: the chief said he applied to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for a body‑worn camera grant and expects the full contract might be awarded even though the minimum deployment requirement this year is smaller. He described applying for the full amount of a contract (he cited figures during his remarks) and said the award would go through state review.
K‑9, drone and forfeiture funds: the chief described a potential patrol/tracking/drug K‑9 that an external nonprofit (referred to as the H Camp/Hamp Foundation in discussion) might fund. He said the foundation could place the township in a queue; if the foundation covered initial costs he estimated the line item at roughly $15,000 including training and equipment. He also requested a drone (he cited a figure near $6,500) for searches, accident scenes and missing‑person responses. He noted that proceeds from civil forfeitures or “furtherance of justice” (FJ) funds would be an available long‑term resource if seizures occur.
Other budget items: the chief discussed evidence/property room upgrades (Sundance system) to automate logging, vehicle maintenance and a strategy of purchasing lower‑mileage used cruisers to defer new purchases, and the need to track grant eligibility and county dispatch cost allocations more granularly.
Next steps: trustees did not act on procurement. The chief said he will continue applying for grants, track reimbursements and return with more precise figures; personnel matters were scheduled for executive session.
