Police staffing top priority for Middletown in 2025, city budget shows

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — The City of Middletown's 2025 budget is set for approval by the city's council this month, and it has a focus on police staffing to ensure safety as city officials expect the population to grow.

Six Middletown police officers were promoted this week. For the first time in nearly a year, the Middletown Division of Police has a complete command staff. Now, they're looking to add.

"We had a lot of forcible overtime and other scheduling issues that were increasing our cost but also burning out our employees," acting city manager Nathan Cahall said. "So this staffing plan is targeted at reducing the wear and tear on our most important asset, which is our people."

The 2025 budget includes "planned deficit spending." According to our partners at the Journal-News, the budget has a projected revenue of approximately $51.5-54.9 million in expenditures after two years.

This is an investment made now in anticipation of future growth. The city told WCPO they anticipate the population to grow by as much as 700-1,000 people.

"Incrementally, over the last few years, city council has approved the increase in police staffing," Cahall said. "Leaders of our community decided to defer some spending and allow the general fund to accumulate some cost savings over time. And now it's been determined that it seems to be the right time to dip into that savings for the needs of our community."

Currently, the city's police division is budgeted for 82 officers. This plan would increase the amount to 88 and cost approximately $700,000. While city council is on board with the plan for more officers, it is still unclear exactly how many will be needed in one year.