Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police chief trims request to three positions, asks for motorcycles and camera upgrades
Summary
The police chief asked the commission to consider three unfunded positions (two officers, one sergeant), $46,000 to address pay compression, two additional motorcycles and upgraded license-plate readers as part of the fiscal 2024–25 budget review; commissioners pressed for parking-vendor collection data and wider benchmarking of public-safety costs.
Police Chief (speaker 2) told the New Smyrna Beach City Commission that his department had reduced its unfunded personnel request from four positions to three — two patrol officers and one first-line sergeant — to align with the department’s newly adopted strategic plan.
“We actually lowered it from four positions to three positions,” the chief said, adding the two officers would backfill reassignments while the sergeant would provide supervision for specialty units including marine enforcement. The department said it plans to move two officers into full-time marine enforcement once delivery of a long‑awaited patrol boat is finalized; the chief reported the vessel completed sea trials and was expected on site within days.
On equipment, the chief requested two additional police motorcycles (raising the fleet from four to six) for traffic visibility and crash response, estimating each motorcycle costs about $45,000. He also sought replacement of the department’s license‑plate readers and additional surveillance cameras, proposing migration from the department’s current NDI system to the county‑standard Flock platform so the city can integrate with the county’s real‑time crime‑watch center.
The chief flagged $46,000 to address pay compression that developed after adding lieutenants to the chain of command without parallel adjustments to sergeants and captains. He described a recent review comparing local compensation to similar beach towns and said staff would provide the commission with supporting data.
Commissioners probed where savings had been found in the operating budget and how the presentation aligned with the wider millage and unfunded-request priorities. One commissioner asked for an update from the city’s parking vendor, Duncan Systems, after staff explained a $50,000 increase in parking‑related expenses tied to higher call volumes for citations and an outsourced collection fee of $2.49 per citation.
“Could you provide us a report with Jack’s new software company and how much we’ve been able to collect since we started using them?” a commissioner asked. Staff agreed to provide a detailed collections and revenue reconciliation.
The commission did not vote during the presentation. Staff were asked to return with additional documentation — including line‑by‑line savings the department identified, a vendor report on parking collections, and the personnel cost details with benefits — to help the full commission weigh the unfunded requests in the larger budget context.
