HELEN – The Helen City Commission has approved a new officer position for the city’s police force for the first time in years.
This week, as commissioners were discussing budget numbers for the upcoming fiscal year, they raised the issue and asked Police Chief Brian Stephens some questions.
Stephens said his department currently has nine full-time officers, the same number it had five years ago.
While the number of officers hasn’t increased, the volume of visitors and large special events has. Helen remains the third most-visited city in Georgia and is drawing more and more media attention, including recent filming of a TV movie in the downtown area.
That means call volume and events requiring police involvement or assistance have increased.
“It’s been on the rise, and we’ve been keeping up with it to the best of our ability,” Stephens said. “The commission saw fit to add another officer, which will take some strain off the current situation, so I am real pleased with their decision.”
Stephens said a challenge he faces, especially on big holiday weekends or on large special events, is finding enough part-time officers to work when and where they are needed. Often that is because part-time officers are obligated at their primary department.
“We’re going to have to expand our part-time officers due to if they have a commitment somewhere else they’re not able to show up for a tour of duty or if they do show up sometimes it’s for a limited amount of time and we may need them longer,” Stephens said. “This additional officer will help fill one of those gaps.”
Commissioner Lee Landress said he felt the city should hire two new officers to get the department up to a number more consistent with the call volume, but there also was discussion of what the additional positions would do during the winter when not as many visitors are in town.
Ultimately, commissioners decided to add one position, bringing the department’s full-time police force to 10 officers.
Commissioner Jeff Ash suggested the new position could support Darrell Westmoreland, the city’s building and zoning administrator.
Mayor Cinnamon Spurlock and others liked the idea of having the new officer position assist with code enforcement violations.
But Stephens and commissioners stopped short of saying the new position would be dedicated to code enforcement.
“Once a week, they’ve asked that I delegate an officer to planning and zoning for code enforcement, and I’ll rotate officers in and out of that position on a weekly basis until we can find the right fit and the officer that will then become the ‘go to’ officer for code enforcement,” Stephens said.
Stephens said how the position will be utilized to help address call volume is yet to be determined since commissioners approved the additional officer unexpectedly.
“They caught me completely off guard, so I’m just excited about having the new officer,” Stephens said. “We’ll sit down and review the schedule and see where it’s going to benefit the community best to place it.”
