As new neighborhoods are built and more residents move in, the town of Bargersville is looking to hire three more police officers to patrol those subdivisions and respond to calls.
In order to pay for those new officers, officials are hoping to get a grant and then cover the costs of those salaries and benefits with additional property taxes in the future as the new homes are built.
With how busy the police department is, additional officers are needed and finding a way to pay for the initial cost will make it possible to hire them, Bargersville Town Council member Ken Zumstein said.
“The goal is to keep from raising taxes,” Zumstein said. “Three years down the road, hopefully we will have generated a few more tax dollars that will offset the salaries of the officers.”
Since 2010, the town’s population has grown by nearly 80 percent, or 3,000 residents. In 2010, Bargersville police responded to about 2,100 calls. That number jumped to more than 4,600 in 2016, according to data from the police department.
The need for new officers can come prior to a town having the funds to pay those salaries, officials said. When construction begins on a new neighborhood in Bargersville, a larger police presence is needed even before the first families move in and pay the property taxes the town then uses to fund the salaries of police officers, interim police chief Todd Bertram said.
Construction sites often are a favorite target of thieves, who look to steal tools, copper piping and, in one case, an entire construction trailer. That means officers out on patrol have another location they have to be sure to check, and any reported crimes means more work for officers and the department’s investigator, Bertram said.
In 2009, the police department had six officers. Now, when the department is back to full staff with the hiring of another officer this spring, the department will have 12 employees, including 10 patrol officers, a detective and assistant chief, as well as six reserve officers, Bertram said.
The department most recently added new police officers five years ago, when three more were hired, Bertram said.
If the grant is approved, one of the new hires may be a detective, Bertram said. The department currently has one investigator, who has been swamped with cases as the number of calls has increased, he said.
The full details of the grant won’t be known until it is made available for applications later this spring, but past grants have covered most or all of the cost of hiring a new officer, and could include paying for equipment and a patrol vehicle, Bertram said. The U.S. Department of Justice awards annual grants to assist local agencies in hiring additional officers through its Community Oriented Policing Services program. Johnson County communities have used the grant in the past.
Once the grant runs out, the town will need to employ the new officers for a set amount of time, or lose the ability to apply for one of the grants again, Bertram said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="<strong>On patrol</strong>" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
<h4>Bargersville police staffing numbers over the years:</h4>
<strong>2009</strong>: 5
<strong>2012</strong>: 9
<strong>2013</strong>: 12
<strong>Current</strong>: 11 (one vacant position is being filled)
<h4>Bargersville population growth:</h4>
<strong>2010</strong>: 4,013
<strong>2016</strong>: 7,213
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