It’s budget season for the City of Perry, and according to Police Chief Eric Vaughn, the next fiscal year has some good things in store for the Police Department.

Vaughn says the most exciting line item on his 2019-20 budget is an increase in the police force. “We were able to put in for another police officer for this year, which is great. You know in the past, we’ve been up to 15 officers. And just through budget concerns and that type of thing, we’ve cut our numbers back down to 12. With a 13th officer, it’ll let us be a little more proactive in the community (and) do some things that we haven’t been able to do. Go out and do more community outreach and crime prevention type activities, as well as dive a little further into our investigations that we haven’t in the past.”

Vaughn adds, in a way the new position should pay for itself, because it will cut back on overtime hours for the current officers. Other capital expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year include: the annual replacement of a patrol vehicle; repairing the floor in the lobby of the station; improvements to the sally port; and new unlock kits for each vehicle in the fleet. To hear more from Vaughn, click the link below to listen to the most recent interview with him on the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/02/26/lets-talk-dallas-county-2-26-2019-eric-vaughn/