Jamestown Police Chief Timothy Jackson, pictured at left, briefed City Council members Monday on the department’s 2024 proposed operating budget.

The 2024 city budget includes funds for four new Jamestown Police Department vehicles and money for the department’s Investigative Fund.

Council members discussed the budgets for the police and fire departments during a budget hearing Monday.

“One of the best in years,” said Timothy Jackson, city police chief and public safety director.

Some items in the department’s budget are going up by several thousand dollars, including supplies like gloves and masks for officers.

“A box of 100 gloves is now $15.99 and cheaper ones are unusable,” he said.

According to Acacare Medical Blog, the average price of a box of 100 Nitrile gloves before the COVID-19 pandemic cost between $8.99 to $11. Those same gloves are now roughly $16.

Jackson expects the department to spend close to $20,000 next year after going over its budget for the equipment.

“So, this year we’ve spent $7,242.16 on gloves alone,” he said. “We’re budgeted for $8,000, so we’re going to exceed that because we have to place another order and that costs about $1,900. We requested $20,000 because, not only has the cost of gloves increased, but also the more drugs we seize the more often we use gloves.”

The budget also calls for the purchase of specialized gear for the police department.

“Capital requests include four new police vehicles at a cost of $193,505 and a new DrySafe forensic evidence drying cabinet for $12,794 that would replace old lockers being used to dry evidence,” Jackson said.

City Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, asked about the change in the department using the budget to buy new vehicles rather than the past practice of using drug seizure money. Jackson said the department didn’t always know how much it would receive each year in drug seizure money, and rather than purchase vehicles the department uses the drug seizure money as an emergency fund. The department has used those funds to buy new vests for officers and replace vests for officers as they become obsolete.

Russell also said he wants to see the next contract between the city and the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association change the way the front desk position is staffed at the department. Before 911 operators moved to the county, the front desk position was a supervisory position.

Russell said the position shouldn’t be a supervisor’s position anymore because that costs additional money each day that a supervisor mans the position.

“I’m just recommending going forward, when it comes time for negotiations, that whoever’s negotiating converting that seat away from a supervisor’s seat,” Russell said. “I don’t know if the chief will agree with me, but I’m looking at it from a fiscal standpoint. I don’t know the exact breakdown of what it costs in overtime, but I would dare to mention it’s a large number for that position. It’s just a thought to throw out there. The supervisors aren’t going to want to see that because they’re making money. I don’t begrudge anyone making money but, from a fiscal standpoint, we could save ourselves some money right there.”