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Fire and police warn council of staffing strains, equipment needs as town grows
Summary
At the Batesburg-Leesville February council meeting, the fire chief and interim police chief reported rising call volumes, declining volunteer participation in the fire department, and persistent police vacancies. Both departments urged planning and budget steps to address staffing, fleet and equipment shortfalls.
The Batesburg-Leesville fire and police departments used their year-end briefings at the town’s February council meeting to flag staffing shortfalls, rising workloads and equipment needs as the town grows.
Fire Chief (identified in discussion as the town’s fire chief) told the council the department ran roughly 1,361 calls in 2025, with medical incidents accounting for about 43% of calls and fires about 12%. He said the department currently has 29 volunteer firefighters who meet participation standards (one new medical clearance moved the roster to 30 during the meeting) against an ordinance allowance of up to 60 volunteers, and five career personnel on staff. “We are seeing volunteer participation decline as call volume increases,” the chief said, urging that the town plan for more career staffing to relieve pressure on volunteers and reduce safety risks on scene.
The chief said the department aims to move to two career personnel on duty per shift as an initial step and flagged several capital needs: air-pack replacements scheduled around 2028, and a long-term projection that another engine purchase may be required by 2030–2035. He also described ongoing community-risk work: the department installed 29 free smoke detectors in the past year, replaced more than 35 batteries for existing alarms at no charge, and provided fire-prevention outreach to about 800 residents. The chief warned that continued volunteer decline combined with rising call volume could increase scene-safety and workforce-injury risks.
Interim Police Chief Corey Nimmons and an assistant identified as Dave presented department statistics showing 18,230 calls answered by dispatch in 2025, including 3,561 911 calls, and 1,269 dispatched police calls (up about 15% from 2024). Nimmons highlighted a 2025 average dispatch-to-arrival response time of 2.66 minutes, a figure the department described as a strong performance given current staffing and workload.
But the police department also reported operational strain: of 26 authorized sworn positions, roughly eight slots were vacant at the time of the meeting (plus one officer on military deployment), leaving the department with about 17 active sworn officers. Nimmons outlined critical needs including replacement fleet vehicles, in-car and body cameras, an upgraded records/CAD system (current software will be unsupported soon), and a more robust backup power generator for the 1978 building. He said efforts to recruit and retain officers will include outreach (job fairs, vehicle wraps as moving recruitment signage) and a compensation/merit study to be discussed at an upcoming work session.
The police summary also included enforcement and investigative numbers: officers wrote 3,428 written warnings and 1,284 traffic citations in 2025; 445 arrests were recorded; seized illegal drugs totaled 1,825.5 grams; and the department reported 54 unlawfully possessed firearms seized in 2025. The police department also reported $292,899.46 in grant funding secured during the budget year.
Both departments asked council to consider near-term budget adjustments and longer-range capital planning. The council directed staff to continue work on staffing and capital cost estimates and to include public-safety needs in upcoming budget discussions and the February 23 work session. The meeting record shows no immediate hiring or appropriation decisions at the session; next steps were framed as requests for staffing plans, cost estimates and grant-writing support.
