ATLANTA — Georgia Department of Public Safety leaders say staffing concerns have shifted from recruitment to retention as long-term law enforcement employees are leaving the profession.

Nationwide, law enforcement saw 43% more resignations and 24% more retirements in 2021 than in 2019, and nearly 50% more resignations in 2022 than in 2019, Hitchens said.

DPS saw a 47% reduction in total applications, on average, for trooper schools since 2015. Hitchens said DPS’s goal is to have 1,000 troopers. DPS currently has approximately 800.

“While the population of Georgia has continued to grow, we’ve yet to be able to accomplish this goal,” Hitchens said. “We must find a way to fill our trooper schools to capacity. …Georgia ranks 50th in troopers per capita. As our trooper strength decreases traffic fatalities increase.”

Hitchens said public scrutiny of law enforcement has pushed employees out of the profession as well as fear of losing qualified immunity, which became centerfold during racial injustice protests.

“You cannot expect police officers to confront dynamic and hostile situations and make split-second decisions without qualified immunity,” Hitchens said. “When officers do not have qualified immunity, they will not act because they have no protection.”

He continued: “All these factors are forcing officers to become fatigued with our profession. They feel that support is ending and the job was not worth the risk. Officers feel that they can be one traffic top away from being on the national news, publicly scrutinized or facing criminal prosecution, even though they may be 100% justified in their actions.”

Lt. Colonel Josh Lamb, director of Administrative Services for DPS, said the agency has made some changes to help recruit troopers and save the department money in doing so.

He noted that it takes DPS one year to onboard a trooper candidate at a cost of approximately $153,000 per candidate to complete the process.

The agency recently implemented an accelerated and blended trooper school model.

“The accelerated school is 14 weeks long and is for sworn officers only. This is opposed to the 34 weeks it takes to complete a traditional trooper school,” Lamb explained. “The blended school combines the accelerated and traditional school models into one school. This saves time and money while filling job vacancies in the most expeditious means possible.”

The agency has also changed its uniform policy to allow candidates with tattoos to become troopers.

“They must be able to cover up their tattoos with our Class A uniform, which is a long-sleeve shirt,” Lamb said. “We felt like we were losing a lot of prior military personnel and current police officers to this requirement so we made a change.”

DPS also received additional funding in the state budget in recent years, which they used toward pay increases. DPS staff received a $11,000 pay increase over last two years, which allowed salary for trooper school to start at $58,350.

Lamb also offered other solutions to the Georgia House of Representatives’ Working Group on Public Safety at its Sept. 14 meeting. He said increased salaries, a more defined 401K or retirement plan, cost of living raises, reduced health care costs and an education incentive could help recruit and retain law enforcement employees.

DPS — which consists of the Georgia State Patrol, Motor Carrier Compliance and Georgia Capitol Police — has 1,600 employees. DPS can respond to large natural or man-made disasters, civil disturbances and public health emergencies.