As we all know morale is still in the tank and nothing to this point has been done to fix the issues facing the police department. That being said, there are folks fighting to change that. I learned yesterday of a meeting that took place between the chief's office and a group of concerned officers from the department. The chief continues to push for much needed equipment and better pay for our officers. As has been stated in the news, take home cars are included in the SPLOST list for now. That's always subject to change however the word is four of our commissioners are in favor of keeping the cars on the list. While this is a step in the right direction they should start looking for other ways to fund the program without being dependent on SPLOST passing to implement the program. I'm told the chief is also pushing for educational incentives, shift differential, and tweaking the mandate program to better suit the needs of the department.
An officer submitted an idea the other day while in conversation about ways to change the fate of the police department. The idea was called a stop-gap measure. Dekalb PD used this tactic last year with its officers and after hearing the idea it could work if implemented the right way. It works by giving the officer a lump sum one time payment, i.e. $5000, to stay with the department for one year. That puts money in the officers pocket now and gives the department time to implement more permanent measures to keep the employee at the end of the one year commitment. This seems like a potentially great program if you can do it the right way. Rather than giving the lump sum payment based on a percentage of an officers base salary, you keep the amount the same for each officer in the department. Again I think this is a good idea if you can get a commitment from county leaders to continue to invest in public safety during that year.
The bottom line is we need something to happen now. Not four to six months down the road. Our situation worsens daily. You can say your concerned about public safety all day long but at the end of the day your judged by your actions not your words. Let's see some action and put cobb back to the front.
Stay safe.
