On Wednesday, Glynn County commissioners will hold a special meeting to address a critical shortage of police officers.
It’s a problem law enforcement agencies nationwide are facing.
One major thing will be proposed at the meeting: more money.
The agenda said commissioners will discuss future pay plan changes for public safety — specifically to address the shortage.
The Glynn County police chief is making the request. The department is budgeted for 95 patrol officers, but they only have roughly 40 on the force.
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Earlier this year, the police department told News4JAX that there are not enough qualified candidates interested in joining the department.
Some of the reasons why there are shortages — especially in smaller or rural areas — are due to larger police departments typically paying more. Those departments usually hire from smaller counties.
Related: Brunswick PD calls on community to help patrol, monitor crime amid officer shortage
Nationally, many blame the police officer shortage on a two-fold moral effect that goes back to 2020: the Coronavirus pandemic and police criticism that boiled over following the murder of George Floyd by a former Minneapolis police officer.
In an officer pay study done by the Glynn County Police Department, it shows the average salary for a police officer in Georgia is a little more than $44,000. That is more than $12,000 below the national average. The study said Georgia has the sixth lowest pay for police officers in the country.
Wednesday’s special meeting begins at 4 p.m. You can watch it live here.
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