A few weeks into his tenure as the Cobb public safety director, Mike Register was blunt about one of the biggest obstacles his department faces, perhaps as much as the salary and retention concerns that have been expressed in recent months.
Perceptions do matter, and they matter a lot, Register said in remarks earlier this week to the East Cobb Business Association.
“Somehow, we have got to make public safety cool again to our young people,” he said.
Part of the reference was to salaries and benefits, as Cobb salaries lag other jurisdictions in metro Atlanta and the county struggles to fill openings.
But he also mentioned a social media environment rife with critical comments about those in law enforcement, in particular after police shootings.
“The whole is being vilified for the sake of the few,” Register said. “Those in uniform are committed. Somehow we have to communicate that.”
He was drawn to a law enforcement career after being kidnapped as a teenager in Macon. The police officers who worked to free him kept in touch after his release.
“They checked on me, they worried about me,” Register said. “Today is a different time,” a reference to trends he’s seeing that “less and less of our young people want to be in law enforcement.”
Formerly the Cobb Police Chief, Register has taken on an expanded role overseeing police, fire, emergency management, 911 and animal services in a department with around 2,000 employees.
Much of that time has been spent hearing out those who have been vocal in urging Cobb commissioners to pay and support them better.
Last month, commissioners approved a one-time bonus of $1,475 for selected police, fire and sheriff’s employees with good performance evaluations.
The move was considered a first step toward a more comprehensive approach to hiring, keeping and encouraging public safety employees.
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Steven Gaynor, head of the Cobb Fraternal Order of Police, said he’s glad Register is “fighting for us” and especially since he now has a direct line to commissioners.
Chairman Mike Boyce has proposed a seven-percent pay raise for public safety employees, but Gaynor said he’ll feel better when he “sees a plan” for a step-and-grade hiring and pay raise program—similar to what teachers get in Cobb County schools—that he thinks will go a long way toward solving lingering problems.
Register said “it’s no secret in Cobb that we’ve been struggling” to bring up salaries and address retention and benefits concerns. He said he’s hopeful commissioners will address the salary boost this year, and then the step-and-grade program for the 2021 fiscal year budget.
Gaynor said it’s “made a big difference” for citizens to speak out on issues that he and others have been raising for years.
One of them is Susan Hampton, who coordinates Cobb public safety appreciation dinners put on by the East Cobb Business Association. In comments before commissioners this spring, she had been asking for a 10-percent pay raise and step-and-grade in the upcoming 2020 budget.
She acknowledges the seven-percent raise this year and step-and-grade for next year is a more realistic scenario.
Hampton also said after Tuesday’s ECBA luncheon she was encouraged by Register’s appointment, as he is a “common voice” for public safety employees. “He’s got their backs.”
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