CLARKSTON, Ga. — Clarkston Mayor Beverly Burks announced at a Monday news conference that police officers in the community will be getting a pay raise.
"This is our first step. We also have to be mindful of the officers in our community," Mayor Burks added.
The mayor's decision comes after officers with the City of Clarkston Police Department expressed understaffing concerns at city council meeting last week.
Effective immediately, officers will receive a 12% increase in the base salary, the mayor said. The new salary will be $52,137.
The pay increase will be for new and existing officers who are not currently over the adjusted salary amount.
Officers will see the pay increase as soon as June 21.
An additional increase will be added on to sign on bonuses for oncoming officers to help encourage growth in the department, Mayor Burks added.
Existing officers would also have access to incentive pay for referring a new officer.
She said that the pay raise could attract and retain positions which helps address the issues of understaffing.
The mayor also added that there would be an additional raise for Clarkston city employees and all officers by 8%.
"It's not too little too late. We will work very tirelessly to make sure our officers know they are a priority here," she said.
The mayor also clarified that the pay increases were determined by a cost savings measure which means the city is increasing or decreasing the budget.
Brian Medford, a resident, said he is happy to see the city is working together.
"Sounds like there were some concessions that were made but also a lot of progress so I’m glad to hear that our officers are going to be taken care of," Medford said.
Medford added that he has lived in Clarkston for 17 years. He said that seeing declining numbers at the police department worried him and his neighbors.
"Chief Hudson has staffed our department nicely to protect us, so finding out that we’re back down to these very low numbers worries me as a family person. We can't go backwards," the resident added.
Clarkston Police Chief Christine Hudson believes the better salary is needed to be competitive with surrounding police jurisdictions.
"I believe that with this increase in which the council approved the moral should come up," he added.
The police chief also said that the increases will attract more officers to serve the force in the city despite the turnover the department is facing.
Clarkston's police department should have 21 officers but only has 15.
"I would love nothing more to get us back up to 21. It's like this all over. People just want to get out of this profession. We are all fishing out of the same fishing pond," said Chief Hudson.
At last Tuesday's meeting, Officer Devin Patterson addressed the city council on how understaffing affects him and fellow officers.
"It's about us wanting to be safe. We barely have enough officers to take care of what we need now," Patterson said to the council.
He added that being short-staffed leads to lots of overtime, fears for his safety, and concerns for the safety of other officers.
Almost half a dozen Clarkston Police officers asked the city council to increase salaries so they can be safe while serving the community.
"We don't have backup. I've been stranded for several minutes at a time by myself fighting for my life," an officer said to the council.
Several metro Atlanta law enforcement agencies are also dealing with the same problem. Clayton County Police and Clayton County's six municipal police departments are collectively more than 100 officers understaffed.
Those who are interested in applying to become a Clarkston police officer can do so here.