Despite the fact that the Georgia General Assembly voted a $5,000 annual pay raise for state law enforcement, the state’s law enforcement agencies – including the Georgia State Patrol, the GBI and the Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, have not seen an increase in the number of people applying for the job.
Add to that, the number of current employees leaving the state’s law enforcement agencies is on the rise. Over the past four years, 145 Georgia State Troopers resigned or were terminated. Forty-two state troopers have retired.
Georgia ranks at the bottom in the nation in starting trooper salaries. Investigators with the GBI are also in the bottom-third of the nation in pay.
The state’s law enforcement agencies are talking to the Georgia General Assembly and asking them to find ways to hire and retain more law enforcement officers for the state. It’s an issue the state legislature will likely address in the coming year.
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