Brighton Police Department and BARC Report

The state of the Brighton Police Department is strong, according to Brighton Police Chief, Robert Bradford, who gave City Council an update at the Study Session held on November 2.  Chief Bradford became the leader of the Department earlier this year after serving as Deputy Chief under former Chief, Wightman.
 
Chief Bradford shared the Department's year-to-date information on call volumes and crime reports. The Department is focusing on using this data to optimize their staffing by making sure the number of officers on each shift relates to the incident volume at that time of day. The Police Department is maintaining their status as the highest trained department in Livingston County while reducing the amount of training done on overtime. Additionally, the Department is working to reduce expenditures on equipment by prolonging the life of existing equipment and leveraging bids with other departments. Through programs like “Coffee with a Cop,” Chief Bradford has made sure that the officers are visible and accessible to community members. He plans on continuing to make community policing a priority in future years.
 
Updates from Ken Grybel and Alyssa Trybus from the Brighton Area Recreation Connection (BARC) and Brighton Community Education, were also shared with City Council at the Study Session. BARC has increased its programming to include soccer, volleyball, tennis, and pickleball. BARC is seeing a great response from the community in these new programs as most of the teams are already full. City Council suggested diversifying recreational offerings to adults.  Grybel told Council that BARC plans on expanding offerings as community members express interest moving forward.