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Police chief reports promotions, budget strains and plans to publish data at Middletown commission meeting
Summary
Police Chief Costa updated the Middletown Public Works Commission on promotions and an April 6 swearing-in, reported about 4,600 incidents last month and a roughly $65,000 replacement-line balance, and outlined plans to integrate NextGen records with Microsoft Power BI for public-facing crime and service statistics.
Police Chief Costa told the Middletown Public Works Commission on March 16 that the department will hold a swearing-in and awards ceremony on April 6 and promoted multiple officers while outlining budget pressures and technology plans.
Costa said the department will promote Lieutenant Derek Puro to captain and named several other promotions, and said the ceremony at Beeman Middle School will also honor citizens and public servants. "We are promoting Lieutenant Derek Puro to captain," Chief Costa said, listing other moves that he said will strengthen leadership in the patrol and investigative divisions.
The chief reported the department's replacement line had "about $65,000" remaining and warned it will go into the red next month as the agency replaces service sidearms that are being returned to the manufacturer. He said the timing requires purchasing and training now rather than deferring into the next fiscal year.
"Last month, we were at 4,600 incidences," Chief Costa said, noting the department is working to curb vandalism and property destruction in the downtown area and to connect people to services through partnerships such as Columbus House.
Costa also described accountability and staffing measures: random drug testing is underway (about 20% of the agency notified in rotation), body-worn and in-car cameras are functioning, and supervisors are considering a "first sign" supervisory tool (ParaDMS) and an FTO product to identify issues early. He estimated part of that tool would cost "somewhere around that, dollars 20 to 25,000," and said full adoption may require budgeting in a future year.
On technology and transparency, Costa outlined plans to link NextGen, the department's report-management system, with Microsoft Power BI so residents can search crime and service data online. "Our goal is to get Power BI forward facing so our citizens can go on and say, 'How many burglaries are in...?'" he said, adding that IT is also rebuilding the private-duty location list to reflect new contracts and that prior cost estimates for the public-facing work were around $45,000.
A commission member asked whether NextGen and Power BI are the same; Costa replied that NextGen is the records system and Power BI is the analytics tool that will query NextGen, and stressed vendors must be vetted and certified to meet the city's security and integration requirements.
Votes at a glance: The commission approved the special-meeting minutes dated 03/05/2025 after a motion and recorded at least one "Aye." The commission later moved to adjourn and recessed at 06:47.
The commission asked staff to consider a future presentation on the Power BI/NextGen rollout so members and residents can better evaluate costs and timing; the chief said more updates will follow as the projects progress.
