One of the major services cited by East Cobb Cityhood advocates is public safety, and in particular, more police officers on patrol.
At their town hall meeting Monday, Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb representatives were quick to note the ongoing public safety concerns expressed by Cobb police, fire and other law enforcement personnel, as well as citizens.
Before those issues were raised to county commissioners, a feasibility study commissioned by the Cityhood group assumed an East Cobb police force of 142 officers.
That’s nearly the double the currently allocated 77 positions for Cobb Police Precinct 4, which covers more of the proposed City of East Cobb, all the way to Canton Road.
But Precinct 4 has only 53 officers, and is among the most understaffed of the five police precincts in the county.
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Among the complaints in Cobb are lower salary scales for police compared to other cities and counties in metro Atlanta, as well as benefit packages and retention rags that also are lagging.
A questioner asked the cityhood group at the town hall about how a City of East Cobb might achieve “full funding” for police officers.
“I want to see a police department that’s paid what they’re worth,” said Jerry Quan, a retired Cobb Police major who was a commander at Precinct 4, who drew strong applause with that remark.
Now a resource officer at Lassiter High School with the Cobb County School District police department, Quan is a member of the Cityhood group, advising on public safety matters.
“I’ll do what I can to help them but I can’t guarantee anything.”
The cityhood group also was asked that City of East Cobb paying police officers might have a “ripple effect” on Cobb’s situation.
Cityhood leader Karen Hallacy admitted that it would, but it would be no different than how other local police departments have been able to entice officers from Cobb.
“We’re part of that ripple,” she said.
A City of East Cobb police force likely would be headquartered at the current Precinct 4 location at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road.
Public safety would be the largest single expense for a City of East Cobb, according to a $45 million budget assumption included in the feasibility study.
Most of that $19.67 million line item would be for police. After the meeting Quan told East Cobb News that he thought that budgeting for 142 officers “is a little bit high,” and said “we don’t want to have the bare minimum” in terms of services and resources as well as manpower.
The biggest objective, he said, would be to have “more officers out on the streets.”
Quan said he sympathizes with his former Cobb Police colleagues who are pressing for better compensation and resources. Saying that he “loves Cobb County,” Quan insists that in East Cobb, “with the right kind of resources, we can provide better services.
“We like where we live, and we want to keep it that way.”
East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage
- Town hall meeting to mark cityhood’s “reset” effort
- Editor’s Note: Taking on the tough sell of cityhood
- Cityhood bill calls for referendum and initial elections in 2020
- More: East Cobb News Cityhood Page
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