The Taylor Police Department will soon welcome three new police officers to its roster, thanks to approval from Taylor City Council to add the extra staff to the budget.
Council voted to allow the department expansion at its Dec. 7 meeting. The three additional officers will take the role of patrol officers, bringing the total number of police officers from 18 positions to 21. “Adding these positions assists with keeping timely responses as the city continues to grow,” according to city staff recommendations to council.
Police recruits in Taylor have a published annual starting pay of $59,370.53. According to city documents, the positions were previously budgeted for, but the number of officers to be hired was in question.
Taylor PD originally applied for a 2023 United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Hiring Program grant (COPS Grant) earlier in the year. The DOJ offers multiple grant programs annually and has invested over $14 billion in community policing since 1994, according to their media department.
The COPS office reported that they received 654 COPS hiring program grant applications during the open solicitation period from law enforcement agencies in nearly every state and U.S. territory. They made fiscal year 2023 awards to 394 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies totaling $216,809,571 to support the hiring of 1,730 full-time officers and deputies.
If awarded, Taylor’s grant would have helped the city to hire five patrol officers rather than three. On Nov. 2, the PD was notified that the grant was not awarded.
While grants to hire more than 250 officers were awarded to cities and towns in Texas, none of the awards appeared to be granted to departments in Williamson County.
Taylor PD’s new hires will be in the police officer/police recruit category. Two will be patrol officer positions and one will be a foot/bike/downtown/ parks officer position. The new hires, when in place, will bring the department total to 21 police officers, two police commanders, five sergeants and four corporals.
Along with the three new officers, Council approved up to $84,000 for an additional patrol car. The city has received an estimate for a 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe 4x4 Police Pursuit Vehicle which will be funded with use tax and the general budget.
“Adding a 4x4 is beneficial to the police department to have during inclement weather conditions,” staff said in its recommendation to council.
The cost of the vehicle from Caldwell Country Chevrolet is $46,345. Police and emergency equipment upgrades total $26,235.00 from Holiday Auto Group.
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Adding these positions assists with keeping timely responses as the city continues to grow.”
-City staff recommendations to council
