Hendersonville City Police fully staffed; has $6.7 million budget for FY22-23
Hendersonville City Police is fully staffed as of June and has been allotted $6.7 million from the city budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
Six new police officers and one new telecommunicator are in training, and all are expected to be ready by the fall. One of the new officers is the niece of Dennie Enevold, the Hendersonville police officer who was killed on duty in 1981.
"We just hired six officers. Four of those are female, which is also a pretty significant accomplishment for us," Police Chief Blair Myhand said. "Of the six, two of the officers are experienced officers. So, they came to us from other agencies, one here in North Carolina and one from California."
More: Unlike Asheville, Henderson County law enforcement not experiencing staffing issues
Myhand also said one of the female officers is Hispanic, which will help increase diversity within the department.
"We want to be reflective of our community. You know, Hendersonville is predominantly a white community. So is our agency," Myhand said. "But I think that we want to be more diverse. I think there is a real value in hiring diverse candidates because of the attributes and the backgrounds that everybody brings to the table."
In the last couple of years, police departments have been hard-pressed to be fully staffed. According to Myhand, this is due to the number of people leaving the profession being greater than the number of new police officers being certified.
"To be fully staffed at this point, in this time in history, I think is a testament to the work that the staff has really put into trying to become attractive... to get them hired, to get them trained, and it has been a lot of work," Myhand said.
One way the department worked to increase applicants was removing obstacles that may hinder potential officers from wanting to work at the Hendersonville City Police. To do that, the department did interviews over Zoom, did after-hours interviews and texted applicants.
Another potential help was the recruitment video made by Greenville, S.C. marketing firm RingoFire and accompanying advertisement campaign, which cost the city $33,000.
This year, Hendersonville City Police will use its budget to continue its vehicle replacement schedule, which will cost around $367,700, and to upgrade body and in-car camera equipment, uniforms and office furniture, which will cost around $196,000.
MORE: City Council approves $52 million budget, water and sewer rate increases for 2023
The remainder of the $6.7 million budget will go to salaries and benefits of around $5.2 million and operating costs of around $1.6 million. Last year's budget was $6.8 million, including salaries and benefits of $5.3 million and operating costs of $1.5 million.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville City Police fully staffed
