Police chief urges council to keep temporary ninth officer amid safety concerns; council weighs vehicles and overtime

Police Chief Eric Miki told the Sheldon City Council that maintaining a budgeted ninth officer is a safety priority because the department periodically operates with a single officer on shift.

"You're alone going to a call that we're trained not to go to alone," Miki said, describing three incidents in the past year when officers were required to respond to domestic or emergency calls without immediate backup. He said keeping an authorized ninth officer would reduce the hours single officers are on duty by about 54% under his proposed scheduling changes and help manage National Guard deployments and other absences.

Miki emphasized that his request for staffing was not automatically tied to the purchase of an additional patrol vehicle. He asked councilors to prioritize the personnel authorization for officer safety and suggested trading in an older Durango to replace high‑maintenance equipment rather than immediately buying a new car for every officer.

Council members probed alternatives, including increased overtime and converting a budgeted part‑time position (about $22,000) to support full‑time coverage; Miki said part‑time/reserve officers cannot reliably cover independent patrol shifts because of certification limits. The chief also described equipment and fleet concerns and noted the city currently budgets for nine officers but only pays eight because one was deployed and paid by another entity.

Why it matters: Officer staffing and vehicle purchases are among the larger recurring and capital items in the city budget. The discussion balances officer safety, labor costs, fleet maintenance and the overall budget constraints the council must weigh.

What’s next: The council left the temporary ninth position in the budget as a placeholder for continued discussion; no final decision on a permanent position or vehicle purchases was reached at the workshop.