There will be a few less Cobb County police officers on the road for the Fourth of July holiday weekend due to county-mandated, cost-saving furloughs. But there will still be plenty of officers on patrol throughout the county, officials say.
Members of two special units, the DUI Task Force and Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP), will be taking a furlough day Friday and have Saturday and Sunday off before reporting to work Monday, Officer Michael Bowman told the AJC.
Officers on the DUI Task Force normally work a Tuesday through Saturday schedule. But due to the forced day off Friday, the officers' days off will be Saturday and Sunday. That means there will be about 10 to 20 less officers during the day and about five less in the evenings, Bowman said.
The STEP unit, which investigates fatal traffic wrecks, will follow the same schedule, but will be on-call if needed, Bowman said. The special units followed the same schedule for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, when two people died in wrecks, Bowman said.
On April 26, the Cobb Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution furloughing employees for five days, including May 27, June 17, July 1, Aug. 5 and Sept. 2. The upcoming Labor Day weekend will also be affected.
Even without the special unit officers on patrol, the county's five precincts will be fully staffed. At any given time, between 40 to 50 county officers will be on patrol, Bowman said. Those celebrating the holiday weekend with alcoholic beverages should not get behind the wheel, he said.
"Every officer in Cobb County is trained to lock up impaired drivers," Bowman said.
In addition to the county's police officers, there are several other jurisdictions throughout the county, including Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth and Smyrna police. Sheriff's deputies and Georgia State Patrol officers also patrol the county.
Many of the city police departments will increase the number of officers on patrol to handle crowds expected for Fourth of July events.
"We will be providing extra patrols in all city parks throughout the weekend," Major Wayne Dennard with Acworth police told the AJC.
Thousands are expected to spend the Fourth of July at the city's Cauble Park for concerts and an evening fireworks show, Dennard said. Extra Acworth officers will be on duty throughout the day, he said.
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