The City of Celina is set to be the next North Texas boom town with a projected population increase from 13,000-plus people today to nearly 73,000 in 2032 — a 231 percent surge.
As a result, the Celina Police Department will soon need to expand far beyond its current staff of 19 officers.
“The next year to two years are going to be challenging, because we are going to double the population, roughly [in that time] so now you’re looking at needing to hire 10, 11 or 12 more officers,” said Celina Mayor Sean Terry.
Terry said he expects to need approximately 100 police officers total to properly patrol Celina by the year 2030.
As of May 15, according to statistics provided by the city, there were 2,370 residential lots under construction in Celina.
“If you have a crystal ball, would anybody want growth? No,” Terry said about the rapid growth in the community where he has served as Mayor for nine years. “But we live in the fastest [growing] county in the State of Texas, and we are probably going to be the fastest-growing city in the State of Texas, if not the country. But we have to wrap our hands around it and [determine] how we can control it as much as we can.”
Despite the growth that Celina has already seen – 35 percent in 2016 – Part 1 Crimes decreased by 31 percent at a rate per 1,000 population, according to data provided by the Celina Police Department. Part 1 Crimes consist of thefts, burglaries, assaults, robberies, rapes and homicides.
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In that same time, call response time – from an officer being ‘en route’ to ‘arrived’ – decreased in 2016 to 6 minutes, 6 seconds, down from 6 minutes, 24 seconds in 2015.
Terry noted that the best recruiting tool his department will be able to offer prospective and qualified police officers is money, which is why he said council members will focus on improving the salary and benefits package for Celina police during an upcoming budget planning retreat later this week.
“Hiring officers is tough all across the country – look at Dallas right now, look at those bigger cities,” Terry said. “It is hard to find good officers, or any officers that are willing to put their lives on the line because it is tough today in the culture that we live in.”
