CLARKSTON, Ga. — An embattled metro police department that's losing officers in droves took a step Wednesday to try to reverse the situation.
Police agencies across metro Atlanta have job fairs. However, the one in Clarkston came with a greater sense of urgency than most.
"As you can see, I got here bright and early," said Jalil Walters, who was at the front of a not-very-long line of applicants to get a job as a Clarkston Police officer.
He had heard about the department’s issues – an allegation of a toxic workplace rooted in Clarkston City Hall -- losing officers left and right.
"Lately we don’t really do traffic stops anymore, because we can’t we can’t be proactive. We don’t have the manpower for that," said a Clarkston officer who declined to be named last week.
Yet, Walters was not deterred.
"Whatever it takes. I’m down and ready. I’m ready to go. Ready to join the team, help them any way I can help them," he said after filling out an application.
Walters said his father has also been a lifelong sheriff's deputy and police officer.
Clarkson is trying to recruit new officers despite a glut of jobs available in and out of law enforcement, despite modest salaries that Clarkston’s city council has bumped up past $52,000 per year.
"I’ve seen crime all around me, grew up with it, saw it in my community. And I’ve always had a heart for law enforcement," said Julissa Palacios, another applicant who is a new mom and a U.S. Army reservist.
Like Walters, she lacks the state certification to start police work immediately but is down for the six months of learning and training that would require.
"I am down to 12 (officers) as of today," lamented Chief Christine Hudson outside the job fair site.
She said her department is short nine police officers. The department is putting two officers on the street at a time, hamstringing them for needed backup measures when one of them gets entangled in a traffic stop, an arrest or crime scene.
Hudson said Clarkston isn't alone in looking to expand its roster.
"We’re fishing in the same fishing pond everybody else is trying to get the same certified officers," she said.
Hudson said she hasn’t settled on a date but expects to also leave Clarkston PD soon. She hopes it will be with a replenished roster of officers.