The Oakwood Police Department announced Friday morning that they plan to resume coverage of overnight service calls in the city beginning Monday, Sept. 12.
The agency announced in June that the Hall County Sheriff's Office would temporarily answer calls within city limits from midnight to 6 a.m. due to staffing shortages. A press release from the agency said the change was intended to be temporary until the City of Oakwood could recruit and fill enough vacant positions.
The Oakwood City Council then approved an increased starting salary for city police officers in July, which the release said placed the agency in a "competitive position with surrounding agencies." That new pay scale went into effect in August, and the agency began receiving job applications.
"Since then, we have successfully hired and trained enough personnel to bring us back to a safe minimum staffing level to allow us to return to full 24-hour coverage daily," the release said.
The department will return to a 24-hour schedule on Monday, Sept. 12.
"As we return to our regular schedule, we want to thank the men and women of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Couch for helping to ensure that the City of Oakwood was provided with law enforcement service during our staffing shortage," the release said. "The ready willingness that was displayed by Sheriff Couch and his personnel to assist in our time of need was critically important and will always be appreciated."
