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The Keller Police Department’s Crime Control and Prevention District budget will see a slight increase for fiscal year 2026-27.
Keller City Council approved the CCPD budget during the Aug. 4 meeting for $2.4 million, about $100,000 more than the current fiscal year.
The details
Keller Police Chief Brad Fortune said the total expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year are $2,406,721. The fiscal year for the city of Keller runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2027, according to the city website.
Equipment/program enhancement is the single-largest budget item at $576,131. One of the purchases will be a $25,000 Stalker Radar trailer.
“We had a lot of success last year getting one of our Stalker Radar trailers,” Fortune said. “One of our biggest complaints is traffic and speeding in neighborhoods. We are constantly deploying our trailer to do speed studies on different locations. We received a lot of positive feedback from the residents about those who were buying one more because it was deployed almost every week this year.”
He said the trailer can also help with messaging, such as information about Keller Lights or e-bikes on the city trails.
The second-largest budget item is $528,000 for a debt payment on the city's animal adoption center and regional holding facility. The debt borrowed was $6.4 million, and the cities of Colleyville and Southlake contribute $20,000 annually toward the debt payment. The debt will be paid off in 2027, according to the presentation.
Six new vehicles are also part of the proposed budget, including two Chevrolet Tahoes and two Dodge Durangos. The city will acquire one Chevrolet Traverse and one Chevrolet Equinox, as well. Additional equipment on the vehicles is $166,792, bringing the total to $439,792 for operations, according to the presentation.
A closer look
Technology improvements account for $401,031 of the CCPD budget. That includes a joint contract with Keller, Southlake and Colleyville for a computer-aided dispatch and record management system.
This is also the fourth year of the city’s contract with Flock Safety for its automated license plate reader for $64,800.
In addition, the first year of a five-year contract with Axon for body-worn cameras and tasers starts. The $263,145 contract features 75 cameras that have live streaming, GPS, auto transcription and add metadata to videos for evidence.
The police department is also receiving 60 tasers, and when in use, activate all Axon cameras in proximity, according to Fortune’s report.
The background
The CCPD was originally funded in 2001 by voters who approved a $0.00375 sales tax dedicated to the police department to expand police facilities, purchase vehicles and fund police accreditation programs, according to the presentation. Voters approved a 15-year $0.0025 sales tax in 2006, which was renewed for 15 years in November 2021.
