By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — More than a decade ago, the mantra at City Hall was 2,000 by 2000 --- the number of sworn Atlanta police officers who would be on the force by the turn of the millennium. But the city never came close to that.
Today, the more realistic goal is 2,000 by the end of 2012, and if the Atlanta Police Department’s recruiting campaign continues its pace of hiring, the force may finally reach that level.
Mayor Kasim Reed, who made public safety a top campaign priority, said he’s well aware of the elusive 2,000-officer goal and also knows that independent studies find that APD needs 2,300 to 2,500 officers to be truly effective.
“I understand right now we’re not in the position because of the economy to fund the higher levels,” he said. “But I’m going to make sure we expand the size of the force. We need to have a bigger police footprint. Every city that has made a path-breaking change in turning the tide of crime has expanded its police force.”
APD has 1,737 sworn officers, Deputy Chief Shawn Jones, who oversees recruitment and hiring, said.
Next year, APD is budgeted for 1,859 officers. That would be the most in city history, except perhaps during the 1996 Olympic Games, he said.
The department has already hired 165 officers this year and expects to reach 300 new hires by the end of the year. That would top any year in recent memory, Jones said.
When Atlanta police had to take furloughs last year, morale plummeted. Attrition soared to 10 percent, double the national average. A shortage of officers also meant less community policing and delays in responding to 911 calls.
Police Chief George Turner said having more officers enables the department to allocate more resources to areas that need the most attention.
“It also has the added effect of lifting morale, helping officers on the street to understand that public safety is a priority and that help is on the way,” he said.
Attrition remains a problem, particularly since new police departments have sprung up across the north metro area. These new departments have been looking for seasoned officers, such as those from APD who have received extensive training, to join their forces.
The relatively new Dunwoody Police Department, for example, hired 40 new officers, including some from Atlanta, during the first three months of 2009, Chief Billy Grogan said.
“Certainly to some degree there is competition among agencies, so you have to be able to offer something to entice someone to leave their agency,” Grogan said.
Dunwoody, he noted, can offer attractive salary and benefits packages and more favorable work shifts to officers in other agencies.
“You need to do that when you want to recruit really good officers, not those who are disgruntled or unproductive,” Grogan said.
Dave Wilkinson, head of the nonprofit Atlanta Police Foundation, a department support group, noted that some new forces can offer new officers a take-home car and other benefits. Johns Creek, for example, offers a $500-a-month stipend to its officers who live in the city.
The Gwinnett and Cobb police departments have been moving to fill the few vacancies they have. As the week began, Gwinnett had 27 vacancies and Cobb had 10. Cobb’s police department is offering tests to prospective applicants in each of the next four months, spokesman Joe Hernandez said, noting that registrations typically fill up within 48 hours after a test is scheduled.
Clayton County’s police department has instituted furloughs and established a hiring freeze.
DeKalb, as of last month, had 100 vacancies on its police force because dozens of officers took early retirement this year.
At APD, more than 70 officers have left so far this year. These include officers who retired, accepted jobs at other agencies or were fired, said Jones, the deputy chief.
He added that some officers who left for other agencies have asked to return. But not all are accepted.
Reed said the Atlanta City Council’s recent vote to boost police officers’ salaries by 3.5 percent is a step in the right direction toward retaining as many officers as possible.
“And that was just a start,” the mayor said, adding the city will be rebidding its health care contract to lower insurance costs for employees. “We’re going to spend every dime that’s been budgeted to the police.”
APD has been able to bring on new recruits at a rapid clip thanks to a new website (www.joinatlantapd.org/) that lets prospective employees from across the country start the application process.
By answering questions, an applicant will know fairly quickly if he or she is eligible to work for APD.
The website has cut APD’s hiring process from four months to two months, said Wilkinson, whose foundation paid $85,000 to develop the site and get it up and running this spring.
So far, more than 4,500 people registered on the website, and 310 have made it through the application process, Jones said. APD is conducting background checks on 127 of those applicants, he said.
Jones noted that APD recently noticed a slew of applicants were coming from Detroit, where a number of officers had been laid off. Because of that response, APD went to Detroit on a recruiting trip. Another is planned soon for Orlando.
The starting salary for an APD recruit is $34,726. Starting salaries for new officers range from $39,327 to $42,128, depending on whether they have a high school diploma or equivalent or a college degree.
Linda Adams, safety chairwoman for the Neighborhood Planning Unit that covers English Avenue and Vine City, said she is already seeing a boost in morale at APD.
“I think it would be even better if officers are given the incentive to move into the communities here where they work, not only to patrol but to give them the opportunity to take pride in their own neighborhood,” Adams said. “Too many of our officers are getting the best training APD has to offer and then they leave. That we don’t want.”
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution