Police Will Add Staff, Vehicles With Windfall
Flush with nearly $300,000 from a state grant to improve law enforcement, the Police Department will hire several specialists, including a full-time gunsmith.
The windfall comes from the Legislature’s Citizens’ Option for Public Safety programs, which are giving $100 million to police and sheriff’s departments across the state. The law mandates that the funds be used to supplement front-line law enforcement, according to department officials.
The gunsmith will service firearms and help train officers. That job now is part time, according to a staff report.
Plans also call for a full-time code enforcement officer to work with the Neighborhood Enhancement team and a full-time officer to work in the Detective Division.
Funds also will go toward hiring a crime prevention specialist, training, buying two police vehicles and other equipment.
City Council members approved the plan last week.
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