Regardless of the reason, Atlanta police are having trouble hanging on to prospective officers.
An internal memo shows that 27 recruits and officers resigned from the force in almost two months, Channel 2 Action News reported. Also, six officers were dismissed and nine retired during the same period.
This comes as the department is starting a new recruiting class with 29 people, six less than normal, Channel 2 reported. APD likes to start with the higher number because it knows some recruits won’t make the cut.
“It just tells me that they just don’t see that they had a future here,” police union representative Ken Allen told Channel 2. “The administration took steps to try and encourage people to be here, but it certainly hasn’t shown it’s making an impact to do so.”
One Atlanta officer sees other reasons for the situation.
“I would be a hypocrite to say that people are not leaving for financial reasons,” Sgt. Warren Pickard said. “You can never pay a person what they think they are really worth. They get into the occupation and they think they should be making more money. That might be one of the reasons they leave.”
Pickard also said some people simply are not cut out to be cops. He said some recruits couldn’t pass the firearms test, or the physical fitness test.
“Some people see opportunities, and they are welcome to explore those opportunities,” he said.
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