Sandy Springs seeks federal grant to hire 11 cops

Sandy Springs officials are waiting to see if the federal government agrees to help pay for 11 new police officers in the northern Fulton County city.

Police Chief Terry Sult applied for a federal Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant to pay the salaries of the new officers for three years. The city would then be required to pay for those officers for another year, before having the chance to decide to cut or keep the positions.

“We need to get more feet on the street to become a more proactive organization,” Sult said.

The grant program would pay about $671,000 in salaries for entry-level officers in the first year, gradually increasing to $726,000 by the final year. The city would pay between $220,000 and $260,000 each year, for training, equipment and overtime.

That fourth year, the city must shoulder the entire cost, estimated at $833,000.

Despite projections that the city will have to cut up to 10 percent from its budget next year, Mayor Eva Galambos said the City Council is likely to sign off on the new jobs if the grant comes through.

“Our taxes go up to Washington, so we should avail ourselves to what’s coming out,” she said. “If we don’t get it, someone else will.”

The 125-member police department is entering its second month of a reorganization that divided the city into north and south districts. Sult said that move should help get more accountability from officers and get more officers into neighborhoods.

The new hires would be placed in both districts, including assignments in schools, to help combat a growing gang problem and to run community programs with property managers at troubled apartment complexes, Sult said.

The COPS program winners are expected to be announced within the next 60 days.