Georgia's state police agencies hurt by low salaries

<p>The Georgia State Patrol expected a flood of applicants when it launched a campaign to hire 100 new troopers last year. Instead, they'll be lucky if 50 troopers join the ranks.</p><p>The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has no trouble recruiting new agents. Keeping them is another matter. They're leaving to join the FBI and even some local police departments.</p><p>The reason: money.</p><p>When it comes to pay, Georgia state law enforcement agencies lag behind their peers in other states and even some local sheriff's and police departments. The salary gap grows even wider for experienced officers. A 15-year veteran of the Georgia State Patrol makes $13,405 less a year than his counterpart in North Carolina, according to state figures.</p><p>A report prepared by the Georgia Department of Public Safety found that the state's troopers are spread thin. Georgia has one trooper for every 312 miles of road miles, the worst ratio in the Southeast. It fares only a bit better when it comes to population. Georgia has one trooper for every 10,297 people, the report found. Only Alabama fared worse.</p><p>Law enforcement officials say the drain of experienced officers in Georgia is alarming.</p><p>"We've reached a critical stage now," said Lt. Joey Brown, president of the Georgia State Trooper Lodge and a 21-year veteran of the state patrol.</p><p>"I worry about what this all means for the public's safety."</p><p>State Rep. Gloria Buckner last week introduced a proposal to form a study committee in the House to investigate the State Patrol's pay scale and retention issues. Twenty-nine other lawmakers from both parties quickly signed on.</p><p>"We are talking about the front lines," Buckner said. "If we have a disaster or calamity that they need to respond to this is going to impact their ability to get there quickly."</p><p>Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposed across-the-board salary increase for all state employees of 2 percent to 4 percent will help but will not come close to erasing the disparity.</p><p>The State Patrol is trying to hire 190 troopers to bring it back to its strength. During many night shifts only one trooper is on duty for every 2-1/2 counties in the state, leaving little opportunity to do much beyond to respond to wrecks. Meanwhile, GBI Director Vernon Keenan says his agency has reduced staffing at its satellite offices by about 30 percent in part because it's more difficult to recruit agents in rural areas.</p><p>The GBI has lost 77 agents in five years _ 40 percent left for federal law enforcement jobs, while 20 percent joined local sheriff's and police departments. The others either left law enforcement altogether or took police-related nonprofit or education jobs.</p><p>It costs $47,000 to train a GBI agent and once they are trained they are sought-after by other agencies</p><p>"We've got to address the salary shortfall," Keenan told lawmakers at a recent budget hearing.</p><p>The state is also having a difficult time attracting and keeping parole officers who deal with violent felons and are paid a starting annual salary of $28,500. State Parole Director Beth Oxford said it's been taking six months to fill vacancies. Only one qualified person applied for a recent opening in Athens, considered an attractive city to live in.</p><p>Oxford said her exit interviews with the dozens of people who have quit their parole jobs in recent years yield the same refrain again and again.</p><p>"They tell me they love this job but they can't feed their families," Oxford said.</p><p>Georgia State Patrol Col. Bill Hitchens said with a starting salary of $31,474 per year, he's struggling to compete for talent. Police departments in Atlanta and Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties all offer higher starting salaries and the disparity only widens as the years pass. A 15-year veteran of the Georgia State Patrol makes $36,519 compared to $53,792 in the Atlanta Police Department.</p><p>"We just haven't been able to find qualified candidates who are interested," Hitchens told state lawmakers</p><p>State Sen. Brian Kemp, R-Athens, called the trend "alarming." Kemp, chairman of the Senate's Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, said he will study ways to address the shortfall but stopped short of endorsing pay raises.</p><p>"If pay is one of the problems we may need to address that," he said. "We need to get more information and continue to look at this."</p><p>Brown said many troopers are frustrated and demoralized by the pay issue.</p><p>He recalls, as a child, being awe-struck by the State Patrol, which he saw as the epitome of public service. "I wanted to be a part of that," Brown said.</p><p>But he said if his own 9-year-old son harbors the same dreams he may be inclined to give him this advice: "You may end up being a trooper but you don't want to do it in this state."</p><p>----</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1ce04a8)</p><p>HASH(0x1ce0550)</p>

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