Police budget proposes nine new posts as department highlights reduced mental-health transports

J. D. Younger, police chief, presented the Police Department budget, stressing community policing and partnerships that he said reduced mental-health transports from roughly 600 (five-year average) to about 300 last year. "Through a combination of legislative changes ... last year, we had 300. So a 50% reduction," Younger said.

Why it matters: The police staffing request and capital projects inform patrol coverage, school resource officer assignments and technology capacity across Edmond. Younger said personnel account for roughly 75–80% of the police budget and proposed nine new positions (five sworn, four civilian) to bolster patrol coverage, a downtown focus, an expanded traffic unit, a twelfth school resource officer to meet staffing formulas, and additional records and technology support.

Younger noted capital priorities including expansion of the police training facility (a $3 million capital appropriation in FY24 that may be rebudgeted) and ongoing design work for an Arcadia Lake Police Facility. He also explained the department’s role in federal task forces (two detectives assigned to DEA and FBI task forces) and said budget proposals aim to formalize those assignments by funding positions rather than temporarily assigning detectives from Edmond’s investigative unit.

On crime patterns, Younger said Edmond remains among the safer cities in the nation for its size but flagged increases in intentional discharges/shots fired over the past two years and said the investigative division tracks those trends closely. He advised focusing on trends rather than single-year counts after the FBI switched from UCR to NIBRS reporting, which expanded categories and complicates straightforward comparisons.

Younger clarified that asset forfeiture is not budgeted as revenue: "We don't ever propose revenue in this area... the money that's expended out of this... is tightly regulated," he said, noting allowable uses tend to be technology and specialized equipment.

What’s next: Younger said he will answer council questions and that staff will continue to refine personnel and capital requests as the budget process advances.