After more than a decade of planning, cajoling and hustling by county officials to put together funding and complete construction, a Cobb Police precinct in Northeast Cobb has opened to the public.
At a Friday morning ribbon-cutting for Precinct 6, Commissioner JoAnn Birrell noted that the flagpoles had just gone up a couple days before.
Most of the offices and rooms inside the new facility are unoccupied, save a small staff comprising the Cobb Police DUI Task Force.
Located off Gordy Parkway near Sandy Plains Road and the Mountain View Aquatic Center, Precinct 6 will eventually include patrol officers in an area of East Cobb that is a good distance from Precinct 4, on Lower Roswell Road.
Precinct 4 stretches from Canton Road to the Powers Ferry Road corridor.
With a presence in Northeast Cobb, “we can be a little more local,” Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said of the aim to better-serve the public for emergencies as well as routine matters, like picking up police reports.
There’s part-time staff on hand for that purpose now, but the mission of the precinct—to become full-service–is a longer-term prospect.
“This is a dream come true,” said Birrell, who has been pushing for a precinct in her District 3 for years.
“Even though it’s not a full-fledged precinct yet, you’re still covered. You haven’t missed a beat.”
In 2023, commissioners approved $7.7 million to complete a Precinct 6 project that was initially budgeted for $5 million in 2016 Cobb SPLOST funds. But construction cost increases delayed the opening.
When commissioners approved the additional $2.2 million in spending in 2023, the building was only 60 percent complete, with most of the interior build-out still to come.
Most of Birrell’s district now includes coverage by Precinct 4, commanded by Maj. Brian Batterton, who will be overseeing the phased expansion of Precinct 6 operations.
Precinct 4 has 18 patrol “beats,” or coverage zones, while Precinct 1 in Northwest Cobb has 8 beats, and public safety officials admit both are stretched thin, both in geography and staffing.
A possible scenario once Precinct 6 is fully operational would be to have each of those three precincts with six beats apiece.
“As the county continues to grow, more public safety services will be needed,” Cobb Public Safety Director Mike Register said. “When you look at the population growth here you really can see it’s needed.”
The ability to decrease response times is among the driving factors, as is the ability to retain emergency equipment that can’t be put in each patrol car.
While Friday’s grand opening (which included lunch courtesy of Williamson Bros. BBQ) is the first phase of the Precinct 6 build out, the timetable for the next steps is fluid.
The second phase will be to take a few beats from Precincts 1 and 4 and move them to Precinct 6.
VanHoozer, who is retiring at the end of the month after 35 years with Cobb Police, said it’s possible two beats from each could start up that process, possibly by the end of next year, depending on the department’s hiring and retention success.
The Cobb Police Department has around 700 sworn officers, and is around 60 officers short.
He said that’s a lot less than the department has had in recent years, but challenges remain filling them, like many law enforcement agencies are experiencing.
The third phase would be a fully operational precinct with a command staff similar to the existing five precincts.
That too depends on what staffing will look like, and VanHoozer said a comprehensive analysis will likely take place to reallocate beat resources across the county.
In touting Birrell’s work to see Precinct 6 become a reality, Commissioner Monique Sheffield said her colleague “understands that safe neighborhoods are a bedrock of any community.
“It’s more than a building. Let’s continue to build a strong and safer Cobb County.”
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