DELMAR, De. -- The Delmar Police Department is once again patrolling the streets 24/7. It means others agencies like Maryland and Delaware State Police and the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office no longer have to help cover the town overnight.
MSP, DSP and the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office were picking up shifts from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Delmar PD Chief Ivan Barkley said while he is appreciative of the help from local agencies, he's looking forward to something he has not seen during his time as chief.
"We are fully staffed and I'll say this, this is probably the first time during my almost eight years of being here that we have been," said Barkley.
On Friday, April 7th, Delmar Police sent out a lighthearted Facebook post with a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger and a slight adjustment to one of his most famous lines, saying "we're back". While the post itself probably garnered a few laughs, Barkley said being fully staffed is a huge benefit for his officers and the Delmar community.
He said being understaffed put a lot of strain on his officers.
"It's very difficult when you're already understaffed and then you have other issues that you have to deal with like time off, illness, injury, training," said Barkley.
It also puts strain on an officers family.
"If you're here and you're putting in hours and working overtime, yeah you're getting paid for it, but that's time away from your family, that's time away from your hobbies," said Barkley.
A heavier workload, however, represents a fraction of why the Delmar Police Department wanted to up their staffing levels. Corporal Keith Heacook's death back in 2021, when he responded alone to an incident, is what sent a jolt through Delmar PD.
Barkley is now able to say Delmar is fully staffed a few weeks ahead of the anniversary of Heacook's death.
"We really understood that we were taking chances, and we weren't going to take anymore chances with it," said Barkley. "As we're on the eve of his death, it feels really good to be able to have it full staffed and the guys out there and working full time for this community."
Now, they can proudly say all 16 officer positions are filled. The next five years will present another challenge though. About half of the department will be eligible to retire.
To help offset that, Delmar's town manager Jeff Fleetwood said when the police department's employment contract ends in a few years, an increase in pay will be at the top of town discussions.
"That heats up again in 2024, so I can assure you that salary is one thing that will be looked at amongst many things," said Fleetwood.
Fleetwood also said the town is on the verge of allowing the police department to hire two more officers, bringing their total up to 18. It's something Barkley said would be another step in the right direction to keeping them fully staffed.
The Delmar Police Department, once again big enough to cover two states.