Published: August 14, 2008 06:04 pm         

Police readiness a high budget concern

By David Wilfong

Herald-Banner Staff



What a difference a year can make when looking at the Royse City Police Department as officers begin preparing for their biggest public event of the year.

When Royse City was preparing for National Night Out last year, the department was celebrating having reached its allocation of 18 officers, which was an increase for the department. In the time since, one officer has passed away, another was called to Iraq by the military and one other resigned from the department.

Meanwhile the city population grew.

According to RCPD Chief Tom Shelton, the “rule of thumb” quota for police departments is to maintain two to three officers for every 1,000 people in a city’s population. By that estimate, Royse City should have an active police force of 22 at the low end, up to as much as 33 officers as the city is estimated to have a population hovering around 11,000.

Right now the department has 15 officers on the street.

The police department had been lagging behind other Dallas-area police departments in competitive salary, though still ahead of departments further to the east such as Greenville. Last year the city authorized an increase to help alleviate recruiting pressures the department was facing when trying tto win over quality personnel.

Then the other Dallas-area departments upped the ante again.

As the city moves toward a budget for the new year, the department is once again at the asking table.

“Recruiting looks bad for us as I was told by the city manager that we may not have any money for new officers or raises,” Shelton said. “This comes at a time when Royse City has had its biggest increase in crime, probably ever. It gets pretty frustrating. I asked for all the above (more employees, higher salaries and equipment upgrades). Who knows what we will get. We need officers and computers. I can tell you we will be up the creek if we don’t get most of it.

“I do not know when I will get the final results (of the city budget). I did mention at city council how our crime is up in every category and we don’t have enough officers to keep up with, much less prevent things that are happening here. Without more officers, it will only get worse.”

At a recent city council meeting Shelton described the previous Friday night when Royse City officers were inundated with calls and Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office deputies had to be brought in to start taking calls on behalf of the municipal department.

According to Shelton, having officers completely tied up with emergency calls negates their availability for what he terms as “preventative patrol” and that keeps the crime cycle in motion. He reports that he is looking for any option for relief.

“I did contact the new president of Texas A&M-Commerce about the criminal justice department at the university helping educate and professionalize police agencies in the area,” Shelton said, though detailed discussions of a program have yet to take place.

Meanwhile, the RCPD is preparing for National Night Out again, which will be delayed this year in an attempt to avoid some Texas heat. The Texas National Night Out has been moved to Oct. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. which is a decision of the National Association of Town Watch. Like the department in general, the NNO event is facing some budget crunches.

“It will be up to each independent neighborhood to plan, organize, and pay for any festivities that occur in their neighborhoods in celebration of NNO this year,” said RCPD Public Service Officer Teri Lemke. “The good news is that there will be a competition between the neighborhoods and/or communities, as to who can have the biggest celebration (attendance, activities, and fun) with the winner getting something pretty special such as a plaque that is displayed at the police department recognizing the communities’ efforts in relation to NNO.”

Neighborhoods organizing for the NNO event should contact Lemke at 469-734-8377.