Pay raise credited for big spikes in APD recruitment,
retention
One year ago, no one
would have predicted that for the first time in years, Atlanta police would
announce dramatic increases in applicants, new hires and re-hires.
Turns out, throwing
money at a problem can sometimes produce the desired result.
Since Mayor Keisha
Lance Bottoms’ announcement last October that Atlanta Police Department
officers would receive pay hikes of up to 30 percent, the city’s longtime
struggle to recruit and retain cops suddenly subsided.
“It’s all thanks to
the pay raise,” Deputy Police Chief Scott Kreher said. “For years we were
finding ourselves behind the eight ball, but that’s no longer the case.”
Two thousand police
officers, a pledge first made more than a quarter century ago by former Mayor
Bill Campbell, no longer seems unrealistic. That benchmark was reached once
before, in 2013, but a closer look at the numbers revealed troubling signs.
Veteran officers were leaving APD at an alarming rate, replaced by recruits who
demonstrated varying levels of commitment to the job.
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As of last year,
according to the Atlanta Police Foundation, 200 officers were leaving for every
100 officers hired annually. By last August, APD was down to 1,663 sworn
officers. Nearly 400 authorized positions were unfilled.
RELATED:
The mayor’s decision
to boost salaries followed a compensation study that found APD officers were
paid well below the median rates of their law enforcement peers. The report,
commissioned by the Atlanta Police Foundation, showed the city’s cops faced a
lower floor, lower ceiling and a longer wait to advance in the ranks.
Bottoms earmarked $30
million aimed at making APD more competitive with departments in similarly
sized urban centers. About 1,100 officers received the initial raises, leaving
$20 million to be distributed over the next three years.
As of Aug. 20, APD has
added 111 sworn officers to its ranks from the same date in 2018.
Kreher said he is most
encouraged by the increase in retention. From 2002 to 2014, APD lost more than
1,800 officers. Morale sank even lower.
“Everyone’s trying to
get out. If you’re a good officer, you’re leaving,” former Atlanta police
officer Joe Layman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2015. Layman left
APD earlier that year for a job with Aurora, Colorado, police. After 10 years
in Atlanta, he was making just $44,000 — a few thousand dollars less than an
APD rookie will make this year.
Back then, the
department averaged 130 resignations annually. As of Aug. 20, Atlanta police
reported 33 resignations, 25 fewer than last year.
“People are just
happier,” veteran Lt. Steve Zygaj said earlier this year. “When you see someone
at a strip club throwing $1,000 into the air — that’s how I feel every day.”
Atlanta Police Department by the numbers
6 comments:
you can't argue with the numbers, Dekalb will never change, if you are thinking of working here please don't waste your time go to apd
Wow...it must be nice to work for a good police department and a chief that will go to bat for you. I really need to look at my options before I am here too long.
Come on my fellow Dekalb officers don’t be disheartened don’t you remember that SIGNIFICANT 4% pay raise the CEO and the COMMISSIONERS gave us....we should be very pleased with that and not complain. The commissioners did not complain after they received a 60% raise.
Dekalb is solely about meeting bare minimum standards these days. There are no longer dynamic, innovative, critical thinkers in positions there. I suppose it's only natural that Dekalb "leaders" reflect the voting public.
If pay is such a major issue, then perhaps you should look for a different line of work and its not as a police officer. It's a thankless job to begin with but the rewards are never in money but those you've helped.
To the previous poster, you are an idiot, a dirty commissioner or a member of the command staff or perhaps just a kiss ass trying to make rank. The only right thing you said was is the rewards are not about the pay. Please go find every 18 plus year veteran and apologize to them for being so stupid and insulting. These veteran officers did not come here to get rich and they are not asking to make hundreds of thousands. They are the backbone of this department and they have sacrificed furlough days, time away from families and special events. They have given this department 18 to 30 years of their lives and all they ever asked for was to be paid what they were promised so they could retire with a decent income after giving all they had for the last 30 years. That is not too much to ask, these officers have been loyal and dependable e en with al, the shit they put up with and how they are treated. No one is asking for a pay raise, they deserve what they were promised when they were hired.
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