Friday, Police Chief Buddy Hill told City Council members that the department currently has seven positions open and it could lose three more officers before the end of the year. If that happened the department would be short nearly a third of its budgeted officers. I sat in on the meeting and spoke with Chief Hill about the problem, its causes and what it all means.
IN A NUTSHELL: The Athens Police Department is struggling to recruit and retain officers in what has become a very competitive market. The City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan to raise the department’s pay scale in order to help in this matter.
