THE LEGACY AND FUTURE OF PUBLIC SAFETY IN CELINA Any city plowing through the growth and development currently being experienced in Celina would, for certain, endure the pains that come with adjusting to such expansion. Residents feel the challenges of street construction or other public works concerns, the development of parks and green spaces, maintaining enough classrooms for school kids, providing programming and events to maintain the dearly held culture of the community, or wrestling with bond packages that accompany each need facing the city. Inevitably, the growing pains ebb and flow. On some days they are painfully noticeable, and on other days they are lost in the excitement of new opportunities flooding into town. In Celina, the most central and necessary component of growth has carefully and intentionally avoided being stretched to or beyond capacity. Thanks to generations of City leaders who plotted and planned for a season such as this, the public safety departments in Celina have stayed ahead of the growth, and they continue to do so with thoughtful planning and hiring and expansion, so that Celina residents maintain the high level of comfort and security under which they have always lived. Celina Fire Chief Mark Metdker and Celina Police Chief John Cullison each lead large and growing departments. They are responsible for training those under their command and making sure that they have the appropriate number of personnel, the right amount of equipment to support them, and the insight to recognize when they should return to a planning table to reevaluate. Separately and together, they work diligently to oversee these departments that, in 2023, both experienced record growth. They meet around board tables, evaluate on the scenes of incidents, and meet again to reevaluate. Constantly and consistently, they work within their teams and with each other to acknowledge their strengths and successes and to illuminate areas where they can grow better. “A critical key to successful and wise growth in the area of public safety is centered around collaboration,” said Chief Cullison. “Our Police and Fire Departments work together on the scenes of so many incidents that our successes are inextricably linked to one another. In this critical time in Celina’s story, we must maintain the confidence in every area of public safety, and so we work together so that every resident can maintain their historical confidence in their safety and security.”
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