Bellevue’s interim police chief Jim Montgomery presented the City Council Monday with a 2015-16 budget proposal with cautious optimism proposed staffing increases will be enough to ensure public safety.

Montgomery acknowledged he too is aware of residents’ concerns about rising property crimes, but the most pressing issues facing the city require adding two detectives, one working in vice and the other on special assault cases, and a digital forensics specialist.

“They are the highest priorities,” he said.

Prostitution continues to be a problem for Bellevue, and includes cases of human trafficking and minors, Montgomery said, due in part to the economic vitality of the city.

The city is also seeing a rise in electronic fraud, but prosecutors require evidence that is time-consuming to gather, as is prosecuting defendants to those crimes, he said.

Montgomery said state statutes require a rapid response to reported domestic violence and crimes against children, but former police chief Linda Pillo was unable to keep up those complaints. Assigning a detective to those cases would decrease the large caseload.

As for property crimes, Montgomery said he’s reassigned officers from the special enforcement team to high-crime areas around the city, with a strong focus on curbing burglaries and auto thefts.

The Bellevue Police Department has added 23 new police officers this year, but Montgomery said, “Hiring them is one thing; Getting them trained and on the street and functioning is something else.”

Montgomery was referring to a backlog at the state’s only police training academy in Burien. Three officers will join the academy this week, he said, and another three next week. The interim police chief expressed frustration with the Seattle Police Department and King County Sheriff’s Office, which he said were granted spots at the academy over the past three months, but failed to keep their commitments when Bellevue officers were left waiting.