Franklin wants 400 more cops for Atlanta

Responding to rising crime concerns in many Atlanta neighborhoods, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Tuesday she’ll push to add nearly 400 sworn officers to increase the ranks of Atlanta police to 2,000 before her term ends in December.

She hinted that she may seek an undetermined property tax increase to pay for the hires. With her estimate Tuesday that it costs at least $20 million to hire, train and equip 200 police officers, the 400-officer hire could cost upwards of $40 million.

Also Tuesday, some city council members drafted legislation aimed at ending the furloughs for police officers and firefighters that were enacted in December. The measure is set to be voted on Jan. 22.

“We can’t go any further in terms of safety without [having 2,000 officers on the police force],” Franklin told the Atlanta Press Club when asked about crime concerns in the city.

“I asked for [a property tax increase] last time,” she said when asked if she’d try again to raise taxes to hire the needed officers. “Once you do something one time, it’s easier to do it the second [time].”

Franklin sought to raise taxes last May, saying the money was needed to prevent cuts to public safety, but her plan was staunchly rebuffed in June by the City Council.

In July, Franklin ordered the closing of Fire Station 7, located near the Mall at West End, to balance the budget. Faced with a $50 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, Franklin ordered 10 percent pay cuts beginning in December for nearly all city employees, including police, in the form of furloughs.

Councilman Jim Maddox, who voted against Franklin’s plan last year, said Tuesday he is reluctant to consider a property tax hike for any reason.

“The people are really concerned about tax increases,” said Maddox, whose southwest Atlanta district has some of the city’s highest crime rates. “We are going to have to give municipalities more options than raising the [property tax] rate.”

Atlanta has 1,623 sworn police officers, according to the most recent data from the police department. City leaders, Franklin noted, have been pushing for 2,000 officers for about 20 years. The mayor said the police department had 1,423 officers when she was elected in 2001.

When told of Franklin’s comments on increasing the number of police officers, Scott Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, burst into laughter.

“Can the mayor be any more full of hot air on that one?,” said Kreher, an Atlanta police sergeant.

Kreher added that if Franklin somehow were able to get the money to pay for more officers, it wouldn’t be possible to hire them before she leaves office at the end of this year.

It takes between four and six months to hire officers, Kreher said. Police recruiters have to perform exhaustive background checks, interviews, as well as arrange medical exams and lie-detector tests, Kreher said.

Although many Atlantans are worried the city is becoming more dangerous, initial police department figures show violent crime dropped by 9 percent from 2007 to 2008. Overall crime, including burglaries and car thefts, rose by more than 4 percent, preliminary data from the police department shows.

Neighborhood activists said they’re intrigued by the mayor’s proposal, though they’d like to see more details.

“Do they have an actual plan in place?” asked East Lake resident Jason MacDonald, who owns Stone Soup, a cafe just around the corner from where bartender John Henderson was killed last week in an early morning attack by four men that galvanized citizen complaints in several east Atlanta neighborhoods about rising crime last week. “I would welcome [more cops on the street], but I’m skeptical.”

MacDonald, who lives in East Lake, said he is concerned the city would have to lower hiring standards to attract 377 new hires.

Midtown homeowner Randall Cobb said he feels Atlanta residents are being asked to bail out the city.

“I don’t believe it will happen, but I’m willing to take the chance,” he said. “With all the graft that goes on in this city, it’s hard to imagine that money being wisely spent. If I knew for a fact they’d put 2,000 cops on the street then, yes, absolutely, I’d be for it.”

Franklin questioned how council members plan to pay for ending the furloughs to police officers and firefighters.

“I am operating in the dark about how they intend to pay for the services they are promising,” she said.