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Brandon leaders review police budget, propose four new officers and dispatch overhaul
Summary
City officials discussed the police department budget, including a proposal to hire four officers in staggered phases, continued use of surplus vehicles from state agencies to save costs, funding for a new K-9/bomb dog if DHS reallocated funds, and a future bond-backed dispatch modernization.
Chair opened the session and turned the floor over to Tracy, a city staff member, who presented the police department budget and highlighted key line items including patrol vehicle computers and radios, polygraph testing and personnel costs that bundle FICA, PERS and workers' compensation.
Tracy, a city staff member, said the drug-seizure fund will show a decrease in capital expenditures this year because vehicles and specialized equipment were purchased in FY25. The presentation also called out a modest increase for training and an employee wellness/EAP membership that raised certain line items by roughly $12,000.
The police chief proposed adding four officers to staff a swing shift that would provide night coverage. "I wanna add a swing shift out there where it puts 2 officers working from 9PM to 9AM," the chief said, explaining the department would hire two officers effective Oct. 1 and two more in April to stagger costs. The chair and chief discussed staggered hiring as a way to spread the expense of four additional patrol cars, uniforms and equipment.
City leaders and the chief discussed fleet procurement as a cost-management strategy. The chief described buying surplus Chargers from the Missouri Highway Patrol and researching Kansas Highway Patrol surplus units, saying upfitting used vehicles (lights, sirens, partitions and radios) has saved the city significant money compared with buying new patrol vehicles. He gave rough figures during the discussion: a base vehicle price cited for some models ranged from about $43,000 on state contract (Explorers) to $55,000–$70,000 once lights and upfitting are added for other models.
On specialized equipment and K-9 needs, the chief said the department continues to evaluate a replacement for Kelly (the department's current dog) and has asked the Department of Homeland Security whether reallocated funds can be used to obtain and train a bomb dog. "If they do have the reallocation funds, they would like to give it to us so that we can purchase a bomb dog," he said, and staff noted the likely timeline to train and place a younger dog could be on the order of about two years to full operational readiness.
Tracy summarized court services changes separately, noting about a $9,600 net increase from FY25 to FY26, with $8,400 attributable to personnel and $1,200 to clerk training.
Council members praised recent policing outcomes and discussed retention. The chief reported attrition has fallen to about 10 percent year over year, crediting staff realignments and tighter hiring screens that, he said, reduce recurring costs on recruitment and training. The chair said the city must balance rising operating costs — from vehicle prices to asphalt and tree removal — against other capital needs.
Looking ahead, the chair said that once the budget is settled and adopted the city will pursue a bond proposal to fund an extensive modernization of the police dispatch center, which he described as a 27–28-year-old facility that requires significant wiring and systems upgrades to serve police, fire and records services for the next decade. The chair also announced an executive session to discuss private compensation matters and cautioned staff about protecting residents' personally identifiable information when evaluating third-party vendors for services such as water billing.
No formal motions or votes on the police budget were recorded in the transcript. The meeting concluded with administrative notes on uploading minutes and agenda materials to CivicPlus.
