Chief's Chat #31: Staffing Needs to Grow with Our City

Let’s set the record straight. In this episode of the Cape CopCast 'Chief's Chat,' we break down how our department can be fully staffed today and still need to grow to protect response times and service quality tomorrow. Using independent urban growth modeling and clear performance metrics, we walk through Project 35—our 10-year roadmap that aligns people, places, and gear with real population trends rather than guesswork. You’ll hear how we translate complex forecasts into practical steps city leadership and residents can understand and support.

We dig into the headline-grabber—“we could use 57 more people today”—and explain why that number reflects future capacity needs, not current vacancies. Think of it like this: the bucket (authorized positions) is full, but the city keeps pouring in. To keep service consistent per resident, we need a bigger bucket, not because of turnover or culture issues, but because growth is accelerating. That’s why a steady ramp of 20 to 30 officers per year makes sense; it preserves hiring standards, training quality, and the culture that keeps great people here.

We also talk about where to get reliable information in a landscape filled with rumor and hot takes. Primary sources matter: our official channels, website, and credentialed news outlets. And we’re showing up where you are—'Coffee with a Cop' at high-traffic spots like Target and at local cafes and churches—so you can ask anything and meet the people behind the badge on good days, not just tough ones. Rounding things out, we spotlight upcoming community events and invite you to our Financial Crimes Town Hall, where detectives share the latest scams, prevention tips, and how to report effectively. (More info here).

If you value fast response, professional service, and a department rooted in strong culture and accountability, this conversation lays out exactly how we plan to keep it that way as Cape Coral grows. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Copcast Chiefs Chat Edition. I'm one of your hosts, Lisa Greenberg.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

And I'm Officer Mercedes Simons. Together we make up the public affairs office. We have surprise, surprise Chief Anthony Sizemore today. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Yeah, good to be back.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

It's nice to have you back on the pod. We've had a busy few weeks, so it's cool that we can get this back and rolling again. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

It was my New Year's resolution to keep it going. And then the first couple weeks of 26, I said I can't.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Well, you were sick, then you were sick, then I was sick. So there's some reasonable excuses. We can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

I think everybody knows there has been something going around. So if you stay home and don't spread things, then you're actually doing a service to everybody else.

Budget Cycles And Project 35

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Absolutely. But we're all healthy. We're here today. And I know we had a few different things we wanted to cover because we're kind of catching up on like three weeks of things to discuss. One of the big things I know is we wanted to kind of set the record straight, clear the air on uh some misconceptions surrounding our staffing.

Growth Modeling And Service Demand

The “57 Officers” Misunderstanding

Culture, Retention, And Capacity

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Yes. So a couple of weeks ago, I was asked by the city manager to present um a state of the union as far as staffing, equipment, real overall budget, right? For uh where we are right now in the short term of building fiscal year 2027, which we are in calendar year 2026. We are in fiscal year 2026, but the new fiscal year starts October 1st. So that will be fiscal year 2027. So it will be on your calendar 2026, but October of 2026 begins fiscal year 2027. So we're already confused, right? No, that's how budget works. So now, this time of the year, early part of calendar year 2026 is really about almost midway through the current fiscal year. So we are developing the budget for fiscal year 2027. That's normal, standard, but what we do that's a little bit different, a little bit more advanced, is we do a 10-year plan. We've talked about it ad nauseum on the podcast, project 35. Right. 2035, fiscal year 2035. What do we look like? People, places, and things. And then we reverse engineer that budget. Well, year two of that 10-year project is what we're developing now, right? And the city manager asked me to speak to our elected body, this Cape Coral City Council, in the budget workshop. The budget workshop is just that. It's a workshop where they're putting together, they being the city council, their legislative, big idea projects. Where do they want to go? What programs from sidewalks to setting the avalurum tax rate to fees to um what are their priorities, right? Their legislative priorities. And then those priorities are taken by the city manager who's ultimately accountable. And he works with the finance department and every department director to make sure that our operations and what we do will fulfill those legislative priorities by our elected officials who represent the people. Right. That's our little civics lesson. It's a little machine. So my part in the workshop was to talk about what are we doing now? What are we looking to do in fiscal year 2027 and the development of that? And then you know, the kind of elephant in the room right now is what's going to happen in Tallahassee with property tax reform. Right. So there's a lot of angst, there's a lot of different scenarios. So the city's finance department was doing that. That's happening across the state. All 67 counties are having to come to terms with some kind of reality. What I was asked to do is to present that independent of any of that, our needs for public safety continue. Whether that's ad valorum, grant, we win the lottery, or we have a very successful bake sale, right? It doesn't matter what the funding source is, right? We have needs. And the goal that I had, or the task I was given, was to present where are we going and how are we going to get there? And that's exactly what Project 35 is. It's modeled after growth modeling, right? There's a third-party professional urban planning growth modeling company that the city has contracted, and we use those numbers. So we're not just picking it out of a hat or using old trends. We're using professional people to forecast where are we going to be? So if we know the outcome or a really reasonable assumption on what the outcome is going to be for population, we can then derive historically a population will demand this type of service. And then historically, what are our calls for service? How many people do we need on the front lines to be able to respond to those needs? And then you extrapolate that out or you scale that up based on your growth, right? So it's very building blocky scientific uh planning. So it was to put that into a consumable product, right? Take a very complicated meal and make it a happy meal so everybody can understand it, right? Consumable data and information. So that's what we did. And one of the things that that really got attention was the fact that today we could use 57 more people today. That was misunderstood, and I always will take responsibility. If I'm doing the talking and you're not understanding, it's my fault. Right? I need to make sure, or the the presenter always needs to make sure that the listener understands. I think most people did, but some did not. And if everybody doesn't, then nobody does, right? That's the way I like to look at it. So some believed, oh my gosh, you're 60 people down right now. That is not exactly true. Right. When I took over five years ago, we were about 60 people down from where we needed to be to meet the metric of people call the police, we go, we get there, we get there quick, and then we find and we you know do what you expect us to do. You need X amount of people to meet that metric consistently. Okay. So we worked really hard to onboard a lot of staffing, and we got very aggressive in our posture to to make up ground, right? And I've used this analogy before, and I'll use it one more time. We're on the highway, somebody is doing 70, and we are behind them doing 70. If we don't speed, we're never going to catch them. Yes, right. So take that analogy, and this is where we need to be. This is where we are. We are never going to get where we need to be unless we increase the gas, step on the gas, get a little bit more aggressive in our posture of hiring people. We did that. The only problem, which is not a problem, it's a problem for growing and planning, but it's a good thing for the the city and the region, is the goal line keeps moving. People keep coming here. So the amount of officers that we need to meet this demand, we're not able to fully catch up because more people are coming here, more service demand, right? The car in front of us is is speeding. Also step it on the gas. So we got to step on the gas a little bit more. And that's what we did with Project 35. So I hope people understand that. Well, we've made a lot of progress and we have hired a lot of people, and we are meeting our metric right now because we did some strategic changes to the way we're laid out, our geographic deployment, all of those things that you expect me and my staff to do, we're doing. Uh, it's actually award-winning. Um, accreditation bodies came in and loved what we're doing, and it's kind of a model for the rest of the country. But we are only meeting those metrics right now, right? And if we don't continue to work, old coaches used to tell me, you don't stay the same tomorrow as you are today. You either get better than yesterday or you get worse than yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

What are you gonna be? Right? That's the choice you have to make. So people continue to come here and development is continuing to happen. There's ribbon cuttings every day, there's more people coming here. Um, we are going to continue to fall behind. So, in anticipation of where we need to be, if we're gonna meet those metrics, if you like the service that you have right now, you like the experience in this amusement park, then to keep that same experience, we need to increase. So some people thought that, well, you're down 57 people, that's a that's a void of leadership, or there's a culture issue, or people don't want to be cops anymore, the city's not supporting them. No, no, no, none of that is true. We are essentially full. We are allotted a certain amount of authorized positions, and we are there.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

And our attention is also really great. It's not like we have people leaving, people want to come here, we want to stay. People stay. We've had open enrollment and we have so many people who are interested coming to test because we've been given a lot of benefits. Our pension's great, our pay is awesome, and so we're just keeping up with what we have going.

What “Full” Means And The Bigger Bucket

SPEAKER_01 9:33

And beyond things like pay, insurance, cars, or you know, uniform colors can change, right? Beard policies and comfort things like that can change. We can be the the greatest paid in the world, and if we don't do anything, eventually everybody else starts to catch up. We could be the lowest paid in the world. People stay for culture, right? So you're exactly right. We don't have turnovers. So we are we are a great, attractive, recruitment heavy place. So we're full, and people want to stay here because our culture is strong. It's a it's a winning uh uh attitude, it's a great place to be. If we're going to maintain that and and have that success continue, we need to continue to grow. So we are not 57 short. We are 57 short of where we need to be to continue that improvement. Now it's a long-range plan. I know we're not gonna get if even if the city council said we'll give you your 57 right now, quality control, we wouldn't be able to onboard 57 the way we want to, to make sure we're getting the right people that our community expects. We we take our time, we onboard uh a good a good, fast, hard-working pace in our professional standards bureau is about 30 onboards a year. So I'm just forecasting a few years out. We need to continue to do that, which is what the ask was. The ask is about 20 to 30 positions a year. That's where we need to be to maintain the service levels that we have. So I know that was lost in translation on in that presentation a little bit. Understandable. Um, I did an op-ed to the breeze just to explain that. So we're do we're doing what uh you would want in the public a leader to do or a team of leaders to do, which is to focus on the now and be educated and anticipate the future and work towards the future. Right. To ensure that if if you like what's happening now, this is what you need to do to ensure tomorrow that in a bigger area with more demand, you're still getting the same per capita quality of service.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

So to recap, essentially, we have essentially no openings currently. The openings aren't the issue. We are essentially full. What you are saying is we could use 56 more openings. Not that we are down 56 or we currently have 56 openings. We have currently no openings because we have done a good job of recruiting people and filling the slots that we've been given. We just need more of those openings.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

You you love my analogies or my visuals, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

They're the best.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

We have a big bucket. The bucket represents our authorized positions. It's full. The water are the people that are occupying those positions. The bucket is full, but we need a bigger bucket because we need more water. Beautiful. Right? So that's what we're looking for. Exactly. A little bit bigger of a bucket, about 20, whatever measures of volume you want to do per year.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Makes sense. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think it's good to put it out there and kind of reiterate and make sure that the message is getting to everyone.

Tony’s Tip: Trustworthy Information

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Speaking of the message, um, be here's Tony's tip. All right. Oh. Be mindful.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

I feel like this can be a new segment. Tony's tip.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Be mindful where you get your information. Okay. Now, I the source is the best way to get it, but you're not always there for the source. But a reputable news source or ask questions of people who are in the know to get the information. Um, unfortunately, and it's not isolated to here, it's an epidemic. You go to any town, any town forum on social media is going to be riddled with falsehoods. Okay. So if if most people know that social media is not the place for real stuff. It's great if we're friends on social media and you put a picture at the park with you and your family, and I go, ah, that looks great. Try the ice cream, you know, or throw back Thursday. I can't believe you wore that shirt. But if you're going on social media to get legitimate news, I have news for you. It's probably fake, right? And then there's a lot of vitriol on there. It's a pretty toxic place in certain corners of social media. So if you are trying to get information about government, if you're trying to get information about real legitimate happenings in the world, and that is your go-to, you I have a news flash, are not a serious person, right? You need to find a better way to get your news.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Absolutely. Like the Cape Copcast. Yes, like or our social media platforms.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Yeah. Or our website. Or our news releases.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Or a legitimate credentialed news source. Something AP related. I mean, I wouldn't go to I I wouldn't want news about what's happening with any military buildup or any type of um national news if it's not a legitimate trusted source. Right. If it's, you know, USA forum, and then people just go on and start talking. It's a pretty poisonous place. Be careful.

Coffee With A Cop And Community Events

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Yeah, absolutely. So outside of that, I think we've had a really busy week. We had coffee with the cop on Wednesday at Target. There were so many people that came. It was so fun. It was awesome. It's nice to meet everybody. And somebody, you know, people ask why we do that. And we like to tell them it's because, you know, a lot of times in law enforcement, we'll meet people on their worst day. Well, guess what? When you're at Target with a cup of coffee in your hand, you're probably having the best day. And so that's when we like to introduce ourselves, talk to people, get to know everybody. And answer the questions.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Like if you have to see a difference about this type of thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Right. And and you could we've had it over the past few years. How come you go to Target? You know, what about mom and pop's? Number one, we go to mom and pop's. Oh, yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

We do a lot of mom and pops coffee shops. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

But the thing about a place like Target is the employees there are Cape Coral people. They are your friends and neighbors. The people who are shopping there are your neighbors. So it is a, you know, even though they're based in another place as a major corporation, they're an they're an employer for local people and you meet local people here. I remember years ago, uh, there was a debate about pizza. Somebody was mad about dominoes, and the owner of that franchise actually wrote a letter that said, you know, I employ high school kids. I employ local single moms to work here. I employ um people for a second job. There's a lot of local connection with these national companies. So that's something that that kind of gets lost.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

I do like doing them at the targets and stuff too, because you not only get the people who are like, oh, I'm here for a cup of coffee, you get the people who are coming into shop. You just get more people, there's more interaction. I mean, we saw so many people, we chatted with so many people, we had great conversations, and you know, the next one's gonna be at a church. So we do change it up. The next one's gonna be at um Cape Christian, their cafe park side cafe, I believe is what it's called.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

A really nice, yeah, really nice coffee shop there.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

So that's our next one.

Upcoming Financial Crimes Town Hall

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So on the lookout for that. It was opening day this past weekend at for Little League Coza Saladino Park, and we were well represented there. Uh, some of our staff members are on the board of directors, so they're they're coaching, they're organizing. Um, they're out there serving hot dogs and hamburgers and and really getting in in touch with the community. And it's a great time of year. Our our Arctic blast, I think, is done. Right? It's supposed to cool off next week for a minute, but this is the best time for uh bike night was a hit recently, opening day ceremonies, art fest, um, coffee with a cop, the the cafe one that we're gonna do is partly outside. Yep. So get outside, we're gonna be out there. There's a million events, and and it's the best time of year to be out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

And to plug on March 2nd, we have our financial crimes town hall. So if you're interested in seeing um some of the scams, frauds, things like that that our detectives have been seeing, they're gonna come, they can answer questions and just go over some of the really concerning things because some scams are very obvious. How could you fall for that? And then other ones are maybe not so obvious that you wouldn't think of unless you were previously informed, right? So that's on March 2nd at 1 p.m. at the Lake Kennedy Center.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yeah. A lot of fun stuff coming up, a lot of good stuff. Anything else you can think of, Chief?

SPEAKER_00 18:37

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

All right, awesome. Well, glad to be back in our routine. And we'll catch everyone next week. Yep. Stay safe. Have a good one.