MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Milledgeville's Police Department says they've entered "survival mode" due to staffing shortages and low pay.
That's according to Police Chief Dray Swicord who spoke on behalf of his department at last week's city council budget hearing, saying that they're short 13 officers.
He expects more to quit if their pay is not increased.
13WMAZ’s Jessica Cha spoke with officers about why they say folks are quitting and why they need a raise.
Patrol Commander Major Linc Boyer says he's been with the Milledgeville Police Department for 10 years.
"I've been running up and down the halls since I was 12 years old, so it's been great,” he says.
Boyer says everyone he began his career with has quit.
“2021 was a rough year for us in crime– violent crime. In 2022, we reduced those numbers in half. Our homicide rate was reduced by 100%,” he explains. “Those officers that did that, they are the ones who made it happen and they are the ones leaving.”
Boyer says the department has seen a steady decline in officers leaving for one main reason.
"If we do not have a significant increase in our pay, we're going to lose more officers,” he says.
Boyer says they have staffing shortages, but not due to a lack of applicants.
"We have applications constantly coming in here of people who want to work here, and they'll come and work 2 or 3 years, and then they're going on to other agencies who pay more,” he explains.
Boyer says a starting officer gets paid $36,352.13. They're losing them to other agencies just down the street like Georgia College’s Police force and the Baldwin County Sheriff's office who pay almost $10,000 more a year.
“If somebody is gonna offer them, you know, $5 more an hour, they're going. I mean, like I said, I don't blame them for it. They have families to take care of. They’ve got to do what’s best for them financially. You got to pay to play this day in time in law enforcement,” he says.
Boyer says he and Chief Dray Swicord presented their problem at one of City Council’s budget hearings to say they need a drastic change.
“If it gets down to the point where we don’t have enough officers, they may have to contract out police services. I hope that’s not a discussion that we even have to have and I don’t believe that city council is going to let that happen,” Boyer explains.
However, some officers on the force says it’s been frustrating seeing folks leave.
“We always kind of say, ‘Well, we can't get any further lower than we are,’ and then someone else quits,” says Lt. Jason Lopez.
Lopez has been with the force for over 20 years. He says they're stretched thin.
"Because of the lack of personnel that we have, we all start wearing multiple hats,” he explains. There’s a lot of officers that will take on the extra details or have side work that they do. There are a few officers that will constantly work. Any type of work they can get with that extra influx of cash.”
Lopez says the work can be overwhelming because they're doing the job of several officers.
"We are trying to stick it out. It becomes increasingly difficult every single day to say why am I here when I can easily go over to the next agency and make more money than I’m making now after being 20-plus years,” Lopez says. “I wanna be able to feed my family and be able to enjoy life as well."
Mayor Mary Parham Copelan says she is concerned about the issue.
"They're a hardworking group of people who deserve to be paid accordingly,” she says. “Public safety is a vital part of our community, and our community wants to see our public safety granted the amount of raises that they’re requesting. We as a city council want to do that and more.”
Parham Copelan says they're meeting with city department heads to talk about what they can fund this year and how to make it sustainable.
“That means for us is to be able to hear them and being able to figure out what we can do and what we cannot do reasonably. That we won’t have to go back and say, ‘Okay, we gave this to you and now we have to take it back because it’s not feasible or sustainable for us’,” she says.
Parham Copelan says she’s aware that the county and departments in other counties are offering more money, and she says it’s disappointing.
“By the time that we get time we get close to our local sheriff’s department in pay raises, they go up another 3% before we can't match where they are,” she explains. “Hopefully, going forward, we will be able to continue to keep up with the times and pay supplements, and maybe we can bridge that gap.”
Boyer says the meeting with city council was positive and he says he feels optimistic there will be some kind of solution by the time the city’s budget is voted on in May.
“We have several people who have left that want to come back. If we get our pay raise and we stay, in the next couple of years, getting a little bump to stay competitive with the other agencies– we’re not gonna have a problem,” he says.
The police department is asking for a 20% pay increase, which would put the starting pay for a Milledgeville Police Officer at $43,000.
That would cost the city about $375,000 a year. They say that it’s not enough to beat the surrounding department’s salaries, but should be enough to compete.