CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore presented a comprehensive 10-year growth plan to city council Thursday, emphasizing that his department is not facing a staffing shortage but rather preparing for anticipated growth and immediate service delivery needs.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
The department is requesting 34 strategic positions for fiscal year 2027 as part of "Project 35," a long-term plan that envisions what the police department will look like in 2035. The plan reverse-engineers staffing and infrastructure needs to ensure consistent service delivery as the city continues to grow.
"We are virtually full. Our recruitment is strong. Our onboarding and hiring is strong," Sizemore said. "I'm talking about the actual workload on the street and for us to meet the metrics that everybody has come to expect."
Current service demands driving growth
The department's data shows calls for service have increased 8% year over year, creating gaps in service delivery capacity. For every 1,000 new residents, Cape Coral generates approximately 850 calls for service annually.
Officer utilization currently stands at 87%, well above the optimal 75%. This means officers spend 87% of their time responding to emergency and non-emergency calls, leaving only 13% for proactive patrols, follow-up investigations, and quality-of-life issues.
"When you're talking about a life or death situation, you want the police officer from ring to knock or from 911 to arrival to be about six minutes," Sizemore explained. "To that end, we are up 8% every year in the amount of calls for service that we have, so that limits the amount of free time that our officers have to do proactive patrols."
Strategic staffing requests for 2027
The department's request includes 24 sworn officers, down from the baseline 25 outlined in Project 35. Sizemore reduced the number by one to accommodate a supervisory position request while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
"Realistically, we're not going to onboard 57 people this year," Sizemore said, referring to the total gap between current and optimal staffing levels. "We don't have the ability financially as a city to do that, and it would be irresponsible for us to onboard that many. Our quality control, our applicant screening, and getting the final product that you want would go down."
The request also includes nine professional staff positions:
- One deputy chief to manage the growing patrol division
- One grant writer to continue aggressive grant pursuit
- One forensic supervisor for the expanding forensics unit
- One staff coordinator for financial services
- Five records coordinators to establish a dedicated Freedom of Information Act unit
Addressing operational challenges
The department faces several operational pressures that the new positions would help address:
Overtime costs: Patrol overtime alone reached $1.8 million in fiscal year 2025, with total department overtime at $4.8 million. Much of this is structural overtime needed to maintain minimum staffing levels.
Records backlog: Digital evidence requests now take up to five weeks to process, compared to one day for paper records. The backlog has increased 34% as virtually every crime now involves technology components requiring forensic examination.
Detective workload: The Detective Division is 11 officers short of optimal staffing while handling 11,000 cases annually, including 2,000 economic crimes and 600 Internet Crimes Against Children cases.
Supervisory ratios: The department operates at a 10-to-1 officer-to-supervisor ratio, which represents the maximum recommended span of control for high-liability situations.
Proven strategic initiatives
The department has demonstrated innovation in addressing service delivery challenges. In mid-2025, Cape Coral transitioned from a three-precinct model to a four-quadrant system, reducing each area's workload from 33% to 25%.
"The hypothesis behind that was, you go from a 33 to third percent workload. You cut it into fours, you go to a 25% workload, which over the length of a year will free up officers to be faster better," Sizemore said.
The change produced immediate improvements in response times, validating the department's strategic planning approach.
Regional context and performance
Cape Coral currently maintains 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents, below the regional Southwest Florida average of 1.8 and the state average of 1.5 to 3.0. The requested positions would bring the department closer to regional standards.
Despite staffing challenges, the department continues to excel in traffic safety initiatives compared to peer cities and maintains strong grant funding success, securing over $1 million annually in federal, state, and local grants.
Long-term vision
Project 35 represents a shift from reactive to proactive planning, ensuring Cape Coral maintains current service levels while preparing for continued growth. The plan addresses personnel, infrastructure, and capital needs through 2035.
"The old way of getting a handful of officers every year, the goal line just keeps getting further and further away," Sizemore said. "We need to have a much more aggressive posture to onboard people to meet today's needs, but also be what you have come to expect when you call 911."
The chief emphasized his commitment to presenting needs-based requests rather than wish lists, maintaining the trust he has built with city council over his tenure.
"When I ask for positions or for programming or for capital assets, these are needed items," Sizemore said. "This is what we actually need to be able to deliver on that service."
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