Georgia lawmakers may take on police pay
Local officials are bracing for General Assembly action to address the problems of hiring and retaining public safety officers.
Initiatives aimed at attracting and keeping local law enforcement officers are expected to surface in the 2018 Georgia General Assembly session.
A final report is expected before the end of the year from the Compensation of Police and Sheriffs — COPS — task force appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle this summer.
Rome city officials say they welcome the help, but not at the expense of local control.
“One size does not fit all,” said Commissioner Evie McNiece, who sits on the Georgia Municipal Association’s legislative policy council.
“We’re asking the Legislature to keep that in mind,” she added, during a meeting with Floyd County’s state delegation. “We want to do what we can, but we may not be able to do everything.”
The difficulty in keeping trained officers is not new, said Rep. Eddie Lumsden, RArmuchee, who is a retired Georgia State Patrol trooper. And money has always been one of the challenges.
“When the state raises salaries, local law enforcement migrates to those agencies. When local government has a better package, they go there,” Lumsden said.
They’re also leaving public service entirely, to work for private industry, Commissioner Craig McDaniel noted.
But Lumsden said it’s time to acknowledge other facets of the problem. It’s getting harder to find candidates who can pass a drug test, he said, and there’s an “increased societal component” that weighs on those in the field.
“We’re expecting, as a society, more and more from our law enforcement officers, but the compensation has not been there,” Lumsden said.
McNiece said there’s concern that the COPS task force will recommend enacting minimum pay rates that smaller, more rural communities can’t meet. A better move, she said, would be to give cities the flexibility and funding to tailor their own solutions.
A GMA policy paper calls for redirection of the add-on court fees for police officer training to local and regional centers, instead of state agencies. The Legislature also should consider allocating money to counsel and treat local officers who experience mental trauma, it states.
The Association County Commissioners of Georgia also has drawn up some recommendations, including the use of SPLOST to fund public safety and the courts. Current state law allows only capital items to be funded through a special purpose, local option sales tax.
Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, said it’s unlikely the General Assembly will pass the full burden down to local governments.
“I don’t see the votes in the Senate for an unfunded mandate,” Hufstetler said.