The Atlanta Police Department is rolling out the red carpet for new recruits.
Literally.
The department held a recruitment event Saturday at Lenox Square where those eager to join the ranks could fill out applications, ask questions and work through the first phase of the hiring process.
“We need compassionate, conscientious individuals that are interested in helping our city of Atlanta residents anytime they need it,” Lt. Kristin Knight, commander of APD background and recruitment, said from the red carpet in position for the event.
Mayor Andre Dickens was on hand for the occasion.
“Look at all these people coming to sign up to get more information about joining the best police force in the nation, and you’re seeing it on display — friendly people working with the community members to be able to introduce them to a new career, to be someone that helps keep this city safe and thriving,” he said.
Saturday’s recruiting event came days after former Atlanta police Chief Erika Shields was featured on a new downtown billboard that reads “Join us in Louisville.” The billboard goes on to say “laterals welcome,” meaning officers can transfer there without having to start over — an obvious attempt to persuade the city’s officers to join their old boss in Kentucky.
Shields stepped down in June 2020, a day after the deadly police shooting of Rayshard Brooks outside a south Atlanta Wendy’s. She was named chief in 2016, becoming the second female and first openly gay police chief in Atlanta’s history and promised reform, vowing not to shy away from tough decisions.
In addition to the billboard, Louisville police announced on Twitter that they would be holding a five-day recruiting event starting Wednesday in Atlanta for lateral transfers and new officers. During the event, there will be onsite testing and interviews.
Lt. Kevin Knapp, president of Atlanta’s police union, previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wouldn’t be surprised if some officers take the offer. It comes with attractive incentives, he said, including an $8,000 hiring bonus, another $3,000 for relocating and the opportunity to get a take-home car.
That’s compared to Atlanta offering new recruits a $2,000 incentive, one grand for signing on and another $1,000 after graduating from the academy.
Additionally, officers making a lateral move to Louisville could land a starting salary of up to $75,552, depending on years of service.
The aggressive recruitment strategies come as police departments across the country are looking to fill vacancies left by officers retiring or leaving for the private sector amid a strong strong job market for workers, the AJC previously reported. Other factors include the pandemic changing the way everyone works and anti-police sentiment born from years of discriminatory policing and exacerbated during 2020′s summer of civil unrest following high-profile killings by police.
That year, more than 200 Atlanta police officers retired or resigned. The department remains 443 workers short of its budgeted 2,042 positions, even with 121 recruits in the academy or preparing to go into the academy.
Nevertheless, Dickens’ office said last week the police department is on track to meet Dickens’ goal of hiring 250 more officers and that the department “produces some of the best law enforcement officers in the nation.”
“The community is going to be safe as we move forward with all these great plans we have of hiring 250 more officers — that has taken place right before our eyes today,” Dickens said Saturday at Lenox Square.
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