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Angel Fire police chief outlines equipment upgrades and state partnership for radio tower
Summary
The police chief described upgraded vehicles, digital radios, body and dash cameras, new detection cameras (no facial recognition), a planned generator for the police office and ongoing negotiations for a state-funded radio tower at the Aspen Tank site.
The village’s police chief (introduced in the workshop as Chief Hogrick/Hogarth) reviewed department accomplishments, staffing and FY27 budget needs. The chief said the department added one full-time position in recent years, has seven full-time employees in the police budget line (including six officer positions and one code-enforcement position), and has purchased new Chevrolet Tahoe patrol units and upgrades to digital communications.
The department upgraded handheld and mobile radios to a digital system and has invested in Axon body and dash cameras; the chief emphasized the Axon system will automatically upload footage when a vehicle returns to a Wi‑Fi-enabled location and retain evidence-marked footage beyond retention windows. The department also purchased Flock cameras for license-plate detection; the chief specifically stated those cameras do not perform facial recognition and are limited to plate detection.
The village solicited an RFP for a public-safety radio tower but received a single, unaffordable bid. The police chief said staff are negotiating with the state (Department of Information and Technology and the Division of Department of Public Safety) to have the state build and fund a tower at the Aspen Tank site; the village’s role would be to provide land and finalize an MOU for the partnership. “They’re gonna pay for the tower, the generator, the fuel for the generator, yearly maintenance visits…and essentially our portion…is we provide the land and allow them to use it,” the chief said.
On the budget side, the police FY27 proposed total is about $1,715,000, with roughly 65% for salaries and benefits, operating expenses at about 17%, contractual services at ~7.8% and the department generating limited revenues (about $234,235 per year). The chief said this will likely be the last year the village budgets for the police-building payment.
Next steps: staff will bring any MOU or partnership agreements with the state back to the governing body for review and approval.
