It's been about a month since Warner Robins mayor Randy Toms met with police chief Brett Evans after a packed city council meeting.
"I'm gonna have a conversation with Chief Evans, everything's fine right now but we've got a lot of work to do," he said.
Some other council members disputed that claim, saying it was meant as more of a goal than an ultimatum.
An open records request obtained on June 28 showed the city had 54 sworn police officers at the time, roughly 20 less than what the city is budgeted for.
Another request acquired this week revealed the police department now has 55 officers -- an increase of just one officer.
When asked over the phone whether those figures were acceptable, councilman Keith Lauritsen said "absolutely not."
He added that the city needs "to do everything we possibly can to get up around 70 to 80 officers."
However, Lauritsen said better news might be on the horizon.
"It looks like things are really turning in a positive direction as far as staffing goes," he said.
The good news?
According to Mayor Toms, a big class of officer applicants is scheduled to begin the evaluation process Monday.
"The last number I heard for Monday's assessment process was 30," he said.
Assistant chief John Wagner later confirmed that number is actually 34.
Toms said that's more than triple the usual figure and he credits a change made in the city's pay scale almost a year ago for some of that growth.
"If a police officer has, say for example 5 years experience, and you can come in at step 5 in the police officer grades," said Toms.
In other words, the city will pay a new officer with years of experience in a different county or city's department at the same level as if that officer had worked all those years for the City of Warner Robins.
There is a limit, according to Toms new hires can enter the department at a maximum of step 10, which is the level city employees with 10 years of experience are paid at.
Chief Wagner said 6 of the applicants slated for evaluation Monday have prior experience.
He added that it's impossible to tell at this early stage how many of the applicants will make it through the hiring process and earn a provisional offer.
The process, he says, has multiple steps including physical and psychological evaluations and a background check.
According to Wagner it can take one to two months to complete.