Press release
The Athens Police Department (APD) faithfully serves the citizens of Athens on a daily basis. Thanks to a recent agreement with the Athens Independent School District (AISD), APD will soon take over law enforcement responsibility on all AISD campuses. For years, Athens ISD has maintained and operated their own police department. In an effort to focus more on educating the students, the District recently presented the City of Athens with a proposal seeking to transfer campus safety and security responsibilities to the Police Department as part of a School Resource Officer (SRO) program.
“Athens ISD approached the City with the idea of the Athens Police Department providing law enforcement services to the District through a SRO program,” said Athens Police Chief Buddy Hill. “The District said they wanted to get out of the law enforcement business so that they could focus on the education business.”
The City and Athens ISD negotiated an agreement whereby the City would assume law enforcement responsibility on all district properties and would provide four School Resource Officers to meet the District’s needs. The costs associated with the SRO program are to be shared; with Athens ISD taking on 75 percent, and the City assuming the remaining 25 percent. The program costs are inclusive of all personnel, vehicle and equipment expenses. The proposed agreement was approved by the Athens City Council and the Athens ISD Board of Trustees.
While the Athens Police Department already had a few positions that they needed to fill, the implementation of the SRO program created an even greater need for additional officers to join the force. In order to properly staff the SRO positions, the City Council authorized additional positions in the Department, and all they need to do is pass a nt police test to start this process.
“Across the nation we’ve seen a decrease in the number of applicants wanting to enter the law enforcement field,” said Hill. “There is definitely a shortage in this region and I’ve seen many cities face the challenge of finding qualified candidates to join local police departments.”
The City of Athens frequently holds entry level exams in order to hire new officers and will continue to do so until the positions are filled. The current entry-level police officer salary begins at $40,064 plus an additional $3,000 sign-on bonus. Applications and notices for exam dates are posted on the City’s website at www.athenstx.gov and on the City’s Facebook page @CityofAthensTexas.
For more information on the SRO program or job openings within the Athens Police Department, call City Hall at 903-675-5131 or e-mail [email protected].