Chipley PD looks to increase manpower to meet service needs

For at least 25 years, the Chipley Police Department has remained at approximately the same staffing level.

However, as crimes have changed over the years with technological developments–particularly online fraud–their workload has increased.

The Chipley PD is thus looking to increase its manpower, Lt. Michael Richter said.

Richter has spoken during recent City Council meetings about his wish to increase their staff to meet increasing service needs. While Scott Thompson is still Chief as of press time, he is currently on leave before officially retiring.

Richter spoke further about the situation in an interview with Washington County News.

Along with a rise in cybercrime, Chipley is growing as an area. At times, there are 17,000 people passing through the roadway in town, Richter said.

“We’re definitely busy,” he said.

The Chipley PD is considered fully staffed for patrol and investigative work. However, when Richter said the PD is short-handed, he means they need more positions.

Richter said he wants the police force to be as “productive and useful to the community” as they can be.

Chipley police are good with response times but can’t be as attentive to everyone’s needs as they’d like to be, he said.

Richter said the City has done a good job on police pay as long as he’s been with the PD and has gotten base pay up.

The starting pay for Chipley patrol officer is $41,163.20 a year for 40 hours per week for a total of $2,080 hours per year and officers receive overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 hours, City Administrator Patrice Tanner said.

For comparison, the starting salary for an officer is $32,003.74 in Marianna and $42,500.64 in Lynn Haven.

Richter said Chipley is a “really good place to work” and he is “very appreciative” of the response he’s gotten from Tanner and the City Council.

The City Council recently authorized applying for a $250,000 grant that would fund two officers for five years and a separate grant to purchase a traffic radar data collector.

Richter presented information about the grants and need for them during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 14.

Discussions on traffic issues in town and monitoring them have recently been held during City Council meetings, as raised by Councilmember Cheryl McCall.

City officials and staff have been able to see what the Chipley PD is going through after his presentations, Richter said.

The Chipley PD has a good work environment with a supportive government, so people stay and like to work here, he said.

“Hopefully soon, we will be able to get a few new positions,” Richter said.