Trinity weighs need for additional officers

“With how you’re expanding and everything that’s going on, and the city growing, I think it’s important to have [additional deputies],” D’Angelo said. “The criminals keep up with where people are. They know what shifts we [work]. With all these developments coming open, it’s just providing opportunity for them to come in.”

The total calls for service in Trinity rose from 2,463 in 2022 to 2,609 in 2023.

“You’re up 150 calls in a year,” D’Angelo said. “I imagine that will greatly increase next year because we’re just starting to see the peak of people moving here now. That was only the first year of it.”

Despite the increase in call volume, D’Angelo reported improvement in response time. Trinity’s average response time in 2022 was seven minutes and 30 seconds. In 2023, that number stood at six minutes and 50 seconds.

Randolph County is averaging more than 10 minutes for the sheriff’s office.

The two additional deputies recommended by D’Angelo will cost the city an estimated $210,000. If the city expands its law enforcement coverage, the next addition will probably focus on the 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. shift.

City Manager Stevie Cox broke down some of the data that portends a need for additional services. Besides the raw number of houses, the value of those houses also continues to rise.

“If you look at the current pace, I would say the average house-buying price is $350,000,” Cox said.”If we stay at the pace we’re going now, I think last year we issued 124 building permits for houses. Year to date, this calendar year, we’ve issued 179 building permits for residential construction.”

On the year, sheriff’s deputies drove 122,000 miles in Trinity, D’Angelo said. That figure will probably decrease because the sheriff’s office is scheduled to open its satellite office in Trinity in the coming days. No specific date has been announced for its opening, but staff members are in the final stages of completing it.

That office will have docking stations for body cameras, meaning body cam footage can be downloaded on-site in Trinity. Temporary evidence storage will also be a benefit of the satellite office.