Columbus Police Department

P.0O. Box 1866 * 510 Tenth Street

Columbus, Georgia 31902-1866

F. D. Blackmon
J. Dent-Fitzpatrick Chief of Police D. Kennedy
Assistant Chief Assistant Chief

TO: F. Blackmon, Chief of Police

FROM: S. Phillips, Corporal, Bureau of Administrative Services

DATE: 1-30-22

SUBJECT: Retention Committee Recommendations

After speaking with officers and civilians regarding their recommendations for things the department and
city could implement for officer retention, the following is an explanation of recommendation. The
following are officer and civilian responses. These suggestions are in no particular order and were
obtained by face to face, emails, text messages and phone calls. All individuals were advised that they
would be kept confidential.

1. Take Home Car

Residents of Alabama get gas stipend to compensate for not being able to take home car. This stipend
would fluctuate based on current gas prices. Also, phase in SUV’s for all personnel. Allow officers to
check in-service from their residence and out-of-service when they are home.

2. Retirement
There has been many different suggestions on how to change the current retirement. One suggestion
stated have retirement 60% after 20 years, and 75%-80% after 30 years. Another recommendation is
retirement eligible after 25 years of service with no age requirement. It should be noted, Alabama has 25
years with no age requirement. With many officers leaving to go to Lee County, Russell County, and
Opelika, this would be beneficial. In addition, once an officer is eligible for retirement, they can enter the
DROP Program. If the retirement is changed to 25 years with no age requirement the drop program
would be for a minimum of 5 years making a total of 30 years of service. If the retirement is not changed
from having an age requirement, after 30 years of service, no matter age they may enter the DROP
Program. Many agencies including cities surrounding Atlanta have switched over to 401K. Switching to
a 401K could attract officers from different agencies. Offer reduced benefits for retirees and add 2.5%
raise every year to the pay. Another suggestion would be 60% after 20 years, 70% after 25 years, and
80% after 30 years. The drop plan should not only be for those who work 30 years. Officers should be
able to get into the drop program beginning at 20 years. If the department wants people to spend an entire
career at CPD, it must make the culmination of that career something worth staying for. That is not
currently the case. There are other suggestions for retirement changes.

Phone (706)653-3100 FAX(706) 2253111

/An Equal Opportunity Organization
 3. Education Incentive
The department and city has always been in favor of higher education. POST classes are offered year
round but few take advantage of these classes. For each class taken which further educates an officer to
perform his or her duties, a stipend shall be granted. If a certification is granted, i.e. Intermediate,
Advanced, DRE, Accident Reconstruction, CSID, an additional stipend will be granted. Complete
education reimbursement to include retroactive. Civilians have expressed a concern for education
incentive which includes $1,000 for an Associates Degree ($250 per quarter), $2,000 for a Bachelors
Degree ($500 per quarter), and $3,000 for a Masters Degree ($750 per quarter).

4. Pay

A step-pay system similar to the military which prevents certain officer ranks from making more than a
certain amount so as to encourage individuals to seek promotion. Going forward, it should be impossible
for a corporal to make more than a Sgt or an officer making more than a Corporal/ FTO. Give officers
housing allowance, waive property taxes, or some other accommodation to help offset the cost.
Compensate officers for more than 1 hour for court, when court is lasting 4+ hours (raise the court pay).
For officers that take on extra roles within the department there should be an additional incentive. For
those who volunteer for SWAT, FTO’s and on call. FTO’s should be given a pay incentive for each time
they train a new hire. The amount of time and energy that comes training a new recruit should be
compensated. At times an FTO will get done training a recruit then the next week, have to train another.
There has been little interest becoming part of the SWAT team. If there was a pay incentive this may
change and the SWAT team could be filled. Officers on call need to be compensated for such. While on
call the officer can’t take trips with his family or plan a major event. This takes away more family time.
Risk Management and Forestry are compensated for on call. Officers who are fluent in another language
(especially Spanish) are dispatched to assist officers regularly. In addition, sometimes the officer may be
off and are called to assist with translation. Evening Watch and Morning Watch should receive a
differential pay. How that is done could vary. One proposal is between 1700 hours and 0800 hours this
pay is applied. The reasoning behind these times is the majority of jobs are 0800 to 1700 hours. After
1700 hours this would typically be the time an officer would spend with his family who’s kids just got
out of school or spouse got off work. The officer would also miss ball games, school music concerts, etc.

Many officers have left to go to other agencies in which the pay is lower however, the department pays
for the employee’s health insurance and pension.

Every time a pay raise is done, it targets starting pay. This has caused the pay compression. Until pay
compression can be fixed, a salary increase for all officers based off years of service. Sandy Springs PD
had a 20% pay raise, Smyrna a 28% pay raise, and Dekalb SO has a 20% pay raise. The city of
Fayetteville had a 19% pay raise for Public Safety and a 10.45% pay raise for county employees. These
pay raises only increased the tax bill by an average of $4.58 a month.
A performance evaluation is done yearly on each officer. With these evaluations the officer is graded on a
number scale. Using the number scale have a raise associated with it. This would reward officers who
 Columbus Police Department
P.O. Box 1866 * 510 Tenth Street
Columbus, Georgia 31902-1866

F. D. Blackmon o g
J. Dent-Fitzpatrick Chief of Police D. Kennedy
Assistant Chief Assistant Chief

work hard and continue to improve in their performance. Officers with lower grades would be more
inclined to get their evaluations raised to receive the bonus.
We are provided cost of living raises, however they are typically around 2%. This COLA is not
impactful. It amounts to approximately $30 to $40 a pay check. It does not cover the rising cost of all
consumer products as well as the housing market ect. Officers are currently required to conduct a yearly
physical training test which is based off a point system. If an officer decides not to take the test or scores
a low grade, it has a negative impact on the officers yearly evaluation. If there was an incentive to get a
higher score officers may be more inclined to perform well on the test. In order for officers to get
overtime, they must meet the 171 hours. This needs to be changed. If an officer shift is 10 hours, after the
shift ends he should be getting overtime pay. Each overtime pay should be based on the individual day
and not a pay cycle. Also, if the officer takes a day off for vacation this should not impact his overtime
from previous days. Officers who have city insurance are required to use the clinic that is provide by the
city. Those officers should receive free medical care and their families should pay a reduced rate, along
with retirees and their families. Officers are working 10 hours but only getting 8 hours accrued for
vacation.

5. Micro Management/ Leadership

The 6 Pillars of Policing should be used within the department as well. There is no trust or transparency
within our department. Recently the Chief was on the News and stated we were 30 Officers short and all
beats were covered. Units are splitting multiple beats and each shift is short 30 officers. Reports are
coming back to supervisors due to small minute reasons that are irrelevant to the report or a supervisors
decision is second questioned and they are forced to change the outcome. “There is inability to allow
supervisors to affectively lead without dictating, interfering or changing the decisions made. People don’t
leave jobs, they leave supervisors.” There needs to be more clear communication about what is
happening within our department. Recognize officer accomplishments rather than wrong doing ie
wearing mask, not wearing CIT pin, phraseology in reports etc. The command staff has seemed to have
forgotten where they came from. Policing has evolved over the years and the command staff has
forgotten what it is like to ride a beat. Quit trying to please the Public. Too many times citizens complain
on an officer with a ridiculous allegation or something irrelevant and instead of telling the citizen to kick
rocks, it is entertained. This causes the officers to feel like the command staff does not support them. This
in turn causes a lack of trust. Treat people like people and get to know your employees and listen to what
they have to say. Employees don’t believe the command staff cares or understands what they are going
through or what they have to put up with. Supervisors and FTO’s who are not happy with their job also
have a negative impact on the officers they supervise and train. Officers need to see the command staff at
roll calls and on the beat. Top ranks have never understood the impact of policies they have ordered.
Phone(706)653-3100 FAX(706) 225-3111
AnEqual Opportunity Organization
Every new policy means more restrictions and more work on their part. Officers do not have faith in their
leadership and they are aftraid to do their jobs for fear of being left out on a limb alone. Agency leaders
need to humble themselves and realize that we do have a problem. They have no confidence because the
Chief tells everyone there is no problem. If he can’t acknowledge that there is a problem to fix and give
honest information to the public, then officers will leave for a stronger leader. People become police
officers to help the public fairly and equally. They can not do that with their hands tied behind their
backs. Be proactive and not reactive.

6. Policy

The beard policy has been talked about for over a year and has not been approved. It is now understood
the policy is at the City Attorney’s office for review and approval. It is now questioned how long it will
have to sit at the City Attorney’s office before they will actually review it and write a policy that can be
put in place. It is a free policy change with zero negative impacts on the city/department that would have
a definite positive impact on morale. Updated communication on this issue is important. Principal
summoning offenders for most violations has been dramatically detrimental to moral. Officers see work
ethic of others. There have been lazy and non knowledgeable officers getting promoted over more
capable and harder working officers. While the lazy, slow playing officers get rewarded and not
punished. When a promotion/ appointment is pending, officers should get to vote who they would like to
see promoted. It is noted this may not be the final decision but it should have some bearing. Great
officers with 10+ years of experience are passed up for promotion based off of education. Not everyone
has had the ability for college credits. Many of those were prior military service and have completed
several GPSTC classes. These officers should be eligible for Sergeant. They are now being surpassed by
officers with 4 to 6 years of service. Consider a policy for rotation of assignments and not keeping
individuals in patrol. Allow officers to cross train in all bureaus. Allow officers to wear CPD baseball
caps in patrol, carry personally owned ARs, and takeout the audio transmitters from the patrol vehicles.
These policy changes are little to no cost and can be implemented almost instantly.

7. Improved Uniforms

The uniforms that are currently in place are outdated and not practical especially in the summer months.
Officer wellness is one of the pillars of 21% Century Policing. However, the current uniform is not good
for an officers wellness. The weight of the gun belt for 10 hours a shift puts strain on the officer most
notably their backs. Switching to a load bearing vest would be the best thing for the officers. Officers
should have uniforms with more breathable material which includes a polo with exterior vest and tactical
pants. Updated communication on this issue is also important.
 N Columbus Police Department
P.0. Box 1866 * 510 Tenth Street
ouc( ;,/'/’ Columbus, Georgia 31902-1866

V V
F. D. Blackmon o o
J. Dent-Fitzpatrick Chief of Police D. Kennedy
Assistant Chief Assistant Chief

8. Lateral Transfer Program

Recruiting is focused on new hires of which have to be put through the academy followed by our in
house Training and FTO training. Having a Lateral Transfer Program would attract officers who are
already Georgia POST mandated to apply to the department. Having these transfers would put officers on
the streets quicker and the department gains experience. Looking at other Departments in the Southeast,
they offer these incentives. Some of the incentives include credit on 75% sick time accumulated with
their prior agency, obtaining some of their years of service, eligible for appointment to the rank of
Corporal after one year of service base upon previous service years, eligible for Sergeant after one year of
service based on previous service years. Switching the retirement to a 401K would also attract lateral
transfers.

9. Call Vetting

With high call volume, officers are constantly being dispatched to calls they are not police related. This
takes up time and man power. Other responsibilities such as locking up Carver Park should not be a
police matter. Getting on duty officers to assist with details which should be 9500 details should not
occur i.e. Miss Ga Pageant. Change our response to missing persons calls requiring persons in DFCS
custody within group homes. Those are state facilities and, at times, take an enormous amount of time
and should be services by Muscogee County Sheriff’s office. Stop responding to non-emergency calls.

10. New Hire Requirements

Time and money is wasted on officers who have been hired who decide when they get into FTO that this
is not for them. Once a hire is made and before they are sent through the academy, they should be
required to ride for a minimum of one week on cach shift.

11. After Hour Warrant Signing

There should be someone available to sign warrants at any time during an investigation. We need to
revert back to advising dispatch a warrant needs to be signed at which time they contact the on call
magistrate/ judge. The new system simply does not work.

Phone (706)653-3100 FAX(706) 2253111

An Equal Opportunity Organzation
 12. Restructure of Sectors

The current sector assignments is not practical. Sector B is by far the worst. It can take offices upwards of
30+ mins to get to a call. This is not effective. A unit from sector B could be dispatched to Gateway Road
at Manchester Expressway from St. Mary’s Road or to Forest Road at Schatulga Road to River Road at
Mobley Road. The length of time cause calls to back up because officers are spending too much time
driving to calls.

13. Principal Summoning/ Issues with Sheriffs

Principal summonsing suspects for various crimes has become extremely demoralizing. An officer puts
in hours worth of work just to have the suspect released from jail. It is understood that we have no control
over the jail. However, instances like this where it seems like we stand by and let the jail dictate what we
as a department do. If an officer makes an arrest they should only be required to provide the suspect with
a court date 48 hours out (72 for warrants). If the jail does not want to keep them, the suspect should be
required to make bond or the jail have a judge on standby to provide an OR bond. This would help
alleviate the time the officer is dealing with a suspect. There have been other instances where the Sheriffs
office has dictated what we would do. Instead of standing our ground we continuously roll over and pick
up their slack. This have left officers with a sense that the command staff again does not have their back.

14. Bureau Advisory Board

Each Bureau should have an advisory board. The board would consist of volunteers from each bureau
and different units. For example, Patrol would have a member from each shift (morning, evening, and
day watch) and motors. Investigative services could have a member from Robbery/ Assault, Burglary
Theft, CSID etc. This board would also have civilian members. The purpose of the board is for better
communication throughout the department, and would meet every two months. The board would meet
with the DC of each Bureau where they could ask questions, voice concerns, and get status updates on
things like the Beard Policy. The DC’s could then take their questions, comments, and complaints to the
next Command Staff meeting where there would be a response to the questions.

15. Other

Many responses indicating moving to a 12 hour shift would have a negative impact on officer retention.

Lack of appreciation for officers.

Officer do not feel safe working the beats.

Officers should not have to attend court of their off days.
 Columbus Police Department
P.O. Box 1866 * 510 Tenth Street
Columbus, Georgia 31902-1866

F. D. Blackmon o 5%
J. Dent-Fitzpatrick Chief of Police D. Kennedy
Assistant Chiel Assistant Chief

Allow officers to attend defensive tactics (Jiu Jitsu) courses outside of the department and the department
pays the officers membership dues.

‘While not everyone responded participated in voicing their ideas, there were a great number of ideas that
were presented for the retention of officers, some of which would not result in financial decisions. We
were advised there were some officers that would not provide any feedback due to the lack of trust within
the department.

cC:

D. Kennedy, Assistant Chief of Police

J. Dent- Fitzpatrick, Assistant Chief of Police

W. Barker-Wright, Deputy Chief, Bureau of Administrative Services

C. Dent, Deputy Chief, Bureau of Patrol Services

L. Deaton, Deputy Chief, Bureau of Support Services

R. Hastings, Deputy Chief, Bureau of Investigative Services

N. Graham, Deputy Chief, Office of Professional Standards

T. Locey, Lieutenant, Bureau of Investigative Services

C. Anderson, Sergeant, Bureau of Support Services

S. Phillips, Corporal, Bureau of Administrative Services

D. Battle, Corporal, Office of Professional Standards

Phone (706)653-3100 FAX(706) 2253111

An Equal Opportunity Organization