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INQUIRY REGARDING WORKING CONDITIONS AND THE HIGH TURNOVER RATE IN THE DEKALB COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
We had several interactions with officers regarding the high turnover rate in the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 15-12-71 (b). This inquiry took place over several weeks during our Grand Jury term. We interviewed a number of DeKalb County police officers with work experience ranging from three to over 20 years. We conducted the interviews on a one-on-one basis under the promise of anonymity and without Police supervisors, county politicians, or other potential interference. What we heard were, we believe to be, candid and forthright statements regarding past, present, and hoped-for working conditions within the DKPD and great insight into the generally low morale and high turnover rate occurring therein.
We discovered the following: Many problems generally start at the top of an organization. Most officers are frustrated by the seemingly endless political clashes, both between the DKPD and our CEO/Commissioners as well as some political infighting within the DKPD itself. DeKalb County has had four police chiefs in the last five years. Such upheaval has not been conducive to departmental operational plans, continuity, and other stabilizing influences which are important for the proper functioning of a Police Department. While several officers do not agree with all of Chief Terrell Bolton’s ideas, he is perceived by many of the rank and file as at least bringing a Plan to the department and trying to implement it. Several officers felt that Chief Bolton needs support from County Elected officials and urge that politics be set aside for the good of the county.
A vast majority of officers support Chief Bolton’s plea for equipping them with Taser devices. The death of a Gwinnett County man from Taser devices a few years ago seemed to “scare” DeKalb officials and the devices were immediately removed form the DKPD for fear of lawsuits. Such a “knee-jerk” reaction by DeKalb County officials now appears both short-sighted and relatively foolish given the recently concluded Special Grand jury investigation into the 2006 shootings of suspects by the DKPD and the resulting uproar. Had the officers been equipped with Taser devices during that time and, more importantly, had the officers been empowered with the choice of such effective, yet almost always non-lethal devices, perhaps the 2006 results would have been different. The 2008 slayings of DKPD Officers Bryant and Barker may also have had a different result had these policemen been equipped with Taser devices.
In many ways, Taser devices also seem preferable to police batons/clubs with regard to the immediate and long-term injuries that suspects may incur. As a Grand Jury, our observations from touring the Jail, from private interviews conducted with DKPD officers and from hearing ≈ 450 cases of Grand Jury testimony is that these men and women, who bravely serve the citizens of DeKalb County, are put in harm’s way virtually each and every day they go to work. They should be equipped with the latest and best technology that will protect them, protect suspects, and protect the law-abiding citizens of DeKalb County. Along this vein, several officers noted that, at a minimum, all law enforcement vehicles used in any traffic stop should be equipped with dashboard cameras to provide video evidence for both the protection of the officers and of the suspects/defendants.
Of paramount concern amongst those we interviewed was the extremely high turnover rate within the DKPD. According to one veteran detective, 43 officers have left the DKPD since the beginning of 2008 including 19 in one month. Only a small number of those losses were due to retirement. While pay is always an issue, DKPD starting pay is actually commensurate with other metro Atlanta counties. It is the salaries amongst veterans on the police force and the lack of adequate raises which lead them to become discouraged and to look elsewhere. In some instances, relatively new police officers are making the same or more than veterans who have been on the force many more years. While we do not advocate the “union theory” that seniority should be the only criteria with regard to pay raises, we do think it is important that experience, along with other evaluative measures including merit, performance and competence should also be part of a fair and progressive pay scale.
Our interviews revealed a critical problem with a shortage of manpower. Such a condition consequently leads to many other morale-deflating problems including canceled vacations, forced overtime, and increased stress. Add these factors to DeKalb County’s already-high crime rate and the dire situation quickly becomes calamitous. In addition, officers reported a shortage of squad cars with waits up to two hours for the previous shift to return cars so that the next shift could go on patrol. As in other areas, DeKalb’s training is generally first-rate but its facilities are perceived as lacking. Eventually among veteran officers, and with the extremely high crime rate in DeKalb County, surrounding county police departments often “cannibalize” DeKalb’s highly trained police force with the promise of less stress, less crime, and the same (or better) pay.
The veterans pay and lack of manpower issues result in a “vicious cycle” wherein the lack of manpower leads to an extremely heavy burden on existing officers who suffer canceled vacations, low morale, and then leave the department in search of more favorable working conditions. This creates an even larger manpower shortage, with remaining veterans not being adequately compensated as the department must offer relatively higher salaries to new officers to entice them to join the DKPD and replace those who left.
One other important item we discovered from our interviews dealt was the misplaced emphasis the Department has on writing traffic tickets rather than patrolling for criminal activity. Many rookies in the DKPD are perceived as “gung-ho” in their quest to write citations. There is an active competition amongst these younger officers to rack up ticket-writing “stats” to prove they are “doing their job.” Veteran policemen felt that using more discretion when writing tickets and instead, occasionally issuing warnings would build more goodwill within the communities of DeKalb County and lead to more joint Police/Citizen cooperation efforts in focusing on criminal activity. Veteran officers also suggested that DeKalb County would be much better served by generally having one policeman handle traffic in an area while the remaining officers focus on patrolling neighborhoods and businesses to spot potential crimes. Experienced officers noted that simply having a police presence patrolling an area and keeping a lookout for “bad citizens” (as such officers are trained to do), would likely act as a preventative measure for many crimes in the first place.
We call upon the DeKalb County elected and appointed officials and other officers to address the compensation and equipment problems immediately. Some funding proposals such as those presented by Commissioner Ellis would enable the pay increase to take place without first rushing to the all-to-frequent politician’s “remedy” of raising taxes on the citizens of DeKalb County. We also have offered other remedies as stated previously and have made specific recommendations with regard to the DeKalb County Police Department in the “Recommendations to Elected and Appointed County Officials” section of these General Presentments.
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