Plant City is growing. As new industrial complexes and subdivisions pop up along the outskirts of town the city has to adapt to properly provide for the expansion.
Fire Station 3 is breaking ground tomorrow. The Plant City EDC is continuing to expand its influence, drawing more and more businesses to the area. Commissioners are thinking ahead when voting on land usage and new development. The staffing at the Plant City Police Department has not changed in years.
“We’re a 24/7 operation, our days don’t stop at 5 p.m.,” Plant City Police Chief Ed Duncan said. “People often don’t realize the true size of our department. On any given day in Plant City, we only have eight officers on patrol at a time. When I’ve asked, many guess that it’s around 20.”
Plant City is approximately 28 square miles. While there are eight officers on patrol, if there is a major accident or incident anywhere from two to four of those eight could be called to respond to one call.
“Because of those staffing numbers, we’ve got some of the most dedicated officers you’ve ever seen,” Duncan said.
When new development comes to town, whether that be a subdivision or a new industrial complex, the city doesn’t see the profit or the benefit until people begin moving in and paying bills. However, the second the golden shovel penetrates the dirt at the new location PCPD has to make sure that land is protected.
With such a small staff, that job is nearly impossible. Over the past six months, the PCPD activity reports show the majority of the construction site break-ins occur late at night and on the weekends. When officers are responding to fights at bars, DUIs and other pressing issues, crooks are pulling up to construction sites and filling trucks with everything from machinery to shingles and doors.
They jump in and out of precinct’s jurisdiction. They’re organized, they’re efficient and they know when the handful of PCPD officers on duty won’t have the time to sit around guarding the empty lots.
Currently, Duncan is serving on the city’s Development Review Committee. He said this helps him be able to get involved with incoming developers and talk to them about having proactive prevention. If developers fence in property, get cameras or ensure they lock up the equipment not in use, that can go a long way toward dissuading theft.
PCPD is successfully functioning, but if the city continues to expand at a rapid rate it will soon not be able to effectively do its job without the city allotting more funds to hire on new staff.
Duncan is currently in preliminary discussions with Mayor Rick Lott and City Manager Bill McDaniel to plan out the best course of action for the department. Duncan believes the best route would be to slowly phase in new teams, say one patrol squad comprised of four members at a time.
McDaniel agreed the clock is ticking on growing the force. As a former police chief himself — McDaniel served in the position from 1996 to 2012 — he said he understands firsthand the demand on the officers.
“There’s no doubt as the city grows we will have to grow our first responders,” McDaniel said. “Fire Station 3 is a very good example of meeting current needs and looking ahead.”
In a perfect world, Duncan said the city would begin the phasing in of new recruits over the next three years. The growth in Plant City up until this point has been gradual, but he believes a major spike is on its way.
The cost of bringing in officers is going to take quite a bit of investment. Every officer that comes on board has their annual salary, uniforms, including items like ballistic vests and badges, insurance and more.
The upcoming fiscal year’s budget allocates $10,935,958 of the total $76,055,834 for PCPD. Duncan said they have been “very conservative” on the budget and want to be responsible with taxpayers funds. Eventually, the city will have no choice but to start the process of hiring more officers if it wants its growing population of citizens to remain safe.