A year-end review of the Sachse Police Department and a discussion on selecting comparable cities for a labor market benefits and compensation survey were the main topics at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

The Monday, Feb.17 meeting began with the unanimous approval to cancel the Mar. 17 city council meeting due to Spring Break for both Wylie and Garland ISD.

Council also approved the use of $40,722 from park development funds to replace the lighting at Salmon Park with state-of-the-art LED lights. Councilmember Lindsay Buhler was absent from the meeting.

Assistant Police Chief Steven Baxter then presented the department’s annual review, highlighting the police department’s achievements and providing a breakdown of crime statistics in the city.

Crime is categorized into two sections: Part I crimes and Part II crimes. Part I crimes are more serious offenses, including violent crimes, assaults, and thefts, while Part II crimes are non-violent offenses.

The good news, Baxter reported, is that violent crime has decreased by 19%. He attributed this to the slowing growth in the city’s population. “As the population growth slows, so does the crime rate,” Baxter said. He also noted that response times for violent crimes averaged just under four minutes.

However, the report revealed an increase in DWI and drug offenses compared to the previous year. Baxter clarified that traffic stops had increased by 30%, which likely contributed to the rise in these types of crimes.

“The more people that get pulled over, the more likely that we discover alcohol and drug-related offenses,” Baxter said.

Other Part I categories had one reported homicide in 2024 versus zero in 2023. Assaults, however, decreased slightly by 4%, with 204 cases in 2024 compared to 212 the previous year. The number of sexual assault cases increased, rising from two in 2023 to eight in 2024. Robberies decreased by 50%, with one incident recorded in 2024, down from two the year before.

Property crimes saw mixed results. Residential burglaries fell 22%, from 18 in 2023 to 14 in 2024. Building burglaries saw a more dramatic decrease of 47%, from 19 in 2023 to just 10 in 2024. Vehicle burglaries also decreased 38%, from 42 to 26, while auto theft dropped 21%, from 29 to 23. The overall number of thefts fell by 16%, from 167 in 2023 to 140 in 2024.

Part II offenses, which include lesser crimes, experienced a slight overall increase of 4%, from 533 offenses in 2023 to 555 in 2024.

Among these offenses, criminal mischief decreased by 25%, from 71 in 2023 to 53 in 2024. There was a drop in forgery and fraud cases as well, which declined by 8%, from 78 to 72. Public intoxication reports increased slightly by 6%, from 16 in 2023 to 17 in 2024.

Alcohol-related violations saw a rise. Other alcohol violations increased by 70%, from 10 incidents in 2023 to 17 in 2024. Driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenses were up by 69%, with 54 cases reported in 2024, compared to 32 in 2023. Drug offenses also rose by 18%, from 71 in 2023 to 84 in 2024.

Chief of Police Bryan Sylvester concluded the presentation by expressing pride in his officers, commending them for their training and their strong representation within the community. Mayor pro tem Brett Franks, Mayor Bickerstaff, and Councilmember Matt Prestenberg each complimented the Sachse Police Department for their hard work and dedication.

The final discussion of the evening was led by public human resource specialist Sarah Towne, who spoke about revising a list of comparable cities for the purpose of conducting labor market benefits and compensation surveys. Towne explained that cities across the country often face challenges retaining employees to neighboring townships, and the goal was to identify cities most comparable to Sachse for market research.

The original list of 48 cities was narrowed down to 13, and by the end of the meeting, council approved 10 cities to be included in the survey. These cities—Wylie, Richardson, Rowlett, Princeton, Murphy, Royce City, Celina, Anna, Rockwall, and Farmers Branch—will be used to help ensure that Sachse remains competitive in the labor market.

The next regular meeting is 6:30 p.m. Mar. 3.

By David McClure

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