Suburbs ready to woo Atlanta’s police, firefighters

The northern suburbs have a new appeal.

While Atlanta sheds hours or cuts pay for public safety positions, some of its more stable neighbors are focused on recruitment strategies that might entice people to jump.

Enlarge this image

Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com

Adam Daniele (left) and Erin Banaszek, new recruits at Fire Station 3 in Sandy Springs, inspect equipment on Quint 3, a type of firetruck. ‘It was the job I always wanted,’ Daniele said. Banaszek has a similar view. ‘I never had a pull anywhere else,’ she said.

• See photos

Recent headlines:

• Man rescued from creek 
• Sandy Springs to reward builders who conserve water 
• Sandy Springs Police Chase Ends in Dunwoody 

   • North Fulton County news

Salaries aren’t the only consideration. And financially strapped Atlanta isn’t the only target. Department leaders who are in a position to hire are thinking of competitive advantages, such as financial benefits, that will be most attractive to workers who could sacrifice retirement savings if they bolt.

“You have to offer something that would encourage them to leave their agency, and come to your agency,” said Billy Grogan, the new chief of police in Dunwoody, which is preparing to hire 38 sworn officers by March.

Along with a competitive salary and benefits, Grogan said, “You do that by offering a different kind of a job opportunity.”

The recession has tightened spending in the smaller suburban cities but hasn’t resulted in layoffs. And a few departments plan to add more positions. Openings for firefighters remain rare. Police jobs are more plentiful.

In Dunwoody, preparing for a relative hiring binge, police applications are arriving from several communities, including Atlanta.

Grogan said the salary range hasn’t been set yet, but he is seeking a range of $38,000 to $57,000 for patrol officers, depending on experience. Initially, the new city plans to hire only seasoned officers.

Among other things, he plans to recruit officers by allowing them to take their patrol cars home. That’s a strategy used in several communities, including in Sandy Springs, where police have 10 openings.

In addition, Sandy Springs’ new Chief of Police Terry Sult plans to seek several new positions this year in the budget. He wants to expand recruitment nationally, through better use of the Web site.

The city will become more aggressive in recruiting, he said, by emphasizing everything from strong community support for the police, to the latest in weaponry available to its officers. “It absolutely matters,” Sult said. “It gets into the ways you can defend yourself, or not defend yourself.”

Among fire departments, the prospects for cross-community jumps are limited. Openings are scarce.

Sandy Springs had about 300 people apply last year for 12 firefighter openings, said fire Chief Jack McElfish. The vacancies were created when a dozen firefighters left the city for the startup Fire Department in Johns Creek, another new suburban city.

Johns Creek drew from several communities for its Fire Department, including seven people from Atlanta.

In Sandy Springs, the departures triggered a series of promotions among firefighters who remained. McElfish decided to fill the openings with new recruits, who hadn’t worked for any other departments. Twelve new firefighters were assigned to stations in December, earning salaries that start at $34,000, McElfish said.

The 84-person department has no openings. But it still gets about seven calls a day, from people inquiring about jobs. Until recently, new recruits Adam Daniele and Erin Banaszek knew what that felt like.

Over three years, Daniele, 27, sent applications to five fire departments.

“It was the job I always wanted,” he said. The salary, he said, wasn’t the deciding factor: “You can only go up.”

Banaszek, 21, whose father and stepfather are firefighters in other area fire departments, has a similar view.

“I never had a pull anywhere else,” she said.

In neighboring Roswell, the Fire Department does not plan to hire, but has had an “influx” of applications in recent months, said fire Chief Ricky Spencer.

That city relies heavily on the use of part-time firefighters, who work full-time for other cities, then work in Roswell on their days off. Most firefighters work 24 hours, then take the next 48 hours off. If Atlanta firefighters are told to take an extra day off, they can make up the pay in Roswell, Spencer said.

He recently hired several part-timers from Atlanta. “It’s a win-win situation for us, especially now with the economy the way it is,” Spencer said. “I hate to put it this way, but we’re benefiting from what the people in Atlanta are having to do with their people.”