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Shortage of officers
Actually, it's not quite that simple. Not anymore, according to Early County Sheriff Jimmie Murkerson. "The public is expecting more from law enforcement today than they have in the past," he said. "Partly because of the high tech shows they see on TV today." "We merged law enforcement in Blakely and Early County a few years ago for the purpose of providing proactive law enforcement," Murkerson stated. But, over the past couple of years it has become more difficult to provide a proactive force. Murkerson also noted that law enforcement has evolved from "the use of force" to a "show of force." And that show of force has got to be well trained today," he stated. "We are having a difficult time finding and hiring qualified officers," he said. "And when we do find them, it's difficult to keep them." At present there are five unfilled positions for sworn officers in Public Safety. In addition one officer is undergoing training at the police academy and two others are on leave. There is also one jailer position and one communications officer position vacant. "When you have that many unfilled positions it makes it difficult to be proactive," he stated. "We're more reactive. And, there is lot out there going undone as result." The manpower shortage is not isolated to Early County. "Every law enforcement administrator I talk to, every police chief and every sheriff, is facing the same problem." Law enforcement agencies around the state and country are having a tough time recruiting officers. A quick glance at news headlines Monday revealed the Macon Police Department, where starting salaries are about $28,000, is facing its largest shortage of officers in years, needing 60 officers to have a full force of about 300. In Brunswick, former law enforcement officials are being asked to dust off their badges to help fill nine open slots. A reserve officer program is also being considered there. In Cairo, the police chief is asking the city council to increase officers' starting pay an review benefits in an effort to keep that department's officers. In Eufaula the feature story on the front page of the Eufaula Tribune last week was about 10 vacancies out of 37 patrol positions in that community's police department. And the Georgia State Patrol is not immune to the problem. While tasked with keeping highways safe, GSP's presence on roads drops significantly around the state in the late night and early morning hours. The GSP has nearly 750 troopers but needs 200 more to reach full strength. The "trooper school" which could have accommodated 70 students only had 54 enrolled in the most recent class and only 39 cadets graduated in August. Meanwhile, the GSP is averaging 10 to 20 resignations a month. Relatively low pay, starting at $31,500, is said to be one reason for the high turnover. As a result of the manpower shortage, around 2 a.m., all of Georgia's troopers call it a night, leaving only radio operators in 21 out of 49 posts statewide. If there are traffic accidents on any of the state's 20,000 miles of highways or interstates, the radio operators notify troopers on call, who must get out of bed to respond. In some cases, a single trooper is responsible for as many as six counties. And no trooper has fewer than The problem was discussed at last week's public safety meeting and a committee was formed including Hank Jester, Perry Jarrett and former police chief Charles Middleton to study the problem and come back to the board with some recommendations. The starting salary for sworn officers in Early County is $24,744. "That's one of the things we have got to look at," Murkerson stated. "But, it's not all about the money." He noted that some agencies with much higher pay scales are also having problems, pointing out that the city of Savannah last month increased their starting salaries to $38,000. "And they are enforcing the same laws our officers are," Murkerson stated. "We don't need as many officers as they do, but our officers have to be just as good." Just as troublesome as the payscale is the amount of stress officers are placed under. "The citizens continue to demand a higher level of service from our officers."
He noted that the occupation of police officer bears the highest incidence of suicide and divorce of any occupation in the nation. The shiftwork puts a strain on families and they are almost always working on holidays.
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