Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

This story is free to read.

Chattanooga City Council boosts funding for police

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / The Chattanooga City Council met on March 15, 2022, to confirm Celeste Murphy as Chattanooga's next police chief.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / The Chattanooga City Council met on March 15, 2022, to confirm Celeste Murphy as Chattanooga's next police chief. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / The Chattanooga City Council met on March 15, 2022, to confirm Celeste Murphy as Chattanooga's next police chief.

Funding for the Police Department will increase under a budget amendment passed Tuesday by the Chattanooga City Council.

The budget amendment does not raise taxes and will not affect the city’s overall fiscal year budget of about $350 million. The amendment reallocates funding among departments and draws down the city’s contingency fund.

The Police Department proposed the extra funding this summer. The department will receive an additional $924,019, increasing its budget to $86,359,622.

Under the plan, the number of sworn positions will remain at 477. The amended budget increases the number of nonsworn personnel, bringing the total number of such staffers from 116 to 123.

Those additions include a development manager, a director of development and training and a director of public affairs, according to the amendment summary. The Police Department also will add four intelligence analysts, while three social workers from Community Health will transfer into “crisis co-response” positions with the Police Department.