A Tennessee Republican and a Georgia Democrat are hoping to help local law enforcement hire and retain officers.
The Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act, tabled earlier this year by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, calls for $162 million in federal dollars for one-time grants to law enforcement agencies struggling to fill the full to maintain staff.
Blackburn cited the understaffing of police departments in Nashville and Knoxville when introducing the bill. As of March, she said in a press release, the Nashville department was understaffed at 193 positions.
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“As I meet annually with Tennessee mayors, sheriffs and community leaders from all 95 counties, they tell me that additional manpower and resources are a top priority to keep Tennessee residents safe,” Blackburn said in a statement released in April Email sent to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
In Hamilton County, about 20% of the positions in the sheriff’s office were vacant as of mid-April, according to bureau records. This includes approximately 14% or 28 of the 198 budgeted sworn and certified deputy positions and approximately one-third of the 201 budgeted sworn and uncertified officer positions, many of whom work at the Silverdale Detention Center.
As of April, there were 20 open positions for sworn officers at the Chattanooga Police Department, Assistant Police Commissioner Jerri Sutton said. That’s about 4% of the budgeted workforce, though Sutton said the number changes frequently with new graduates from the training academy and natural turnover, mostly from retired officers.
Without full staffing, officers have to work longer hours and take on more roles in the department to handle the workload, Shea Jefferson, director of organizational development and learning for the Chattanooga Police Department, said in an interview.
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“It can impact the budget,” Jefferson said, “and sometimes employee morale as well.”
Most smaller Hamilton County agencies have few or no vacancies in the force, officials said.
“This problem isn’t just limited to the Volunteer state — 11 cities across America experienced severe law enforcement shortages in the past year,” Blackburn said in her emailed statement. “As violent crime and drug-related offenses continue to rise, Sen. Ossoff and I propose a bipartisan solution to help hire and retain good, qualified officers.”
In Chattanooga, reported shootings and other violent crimes fell in 2022 from the year before, according to department data. Drug-related crime also fell last year but has risen about 13% since March compared to the same point in 2022, data shows.
Blackburn and Ossoff’s bill would also require agencies using these grants to conduct background checks and mental health assessments on potential new hires. Police officers in Tennessee are already required to complete both before being certified at the state level, Hamilton County police chiefs said.
The bill hasn’t progressed since it was introduced in the US Senate in late March.
Hamilton County law enforcement officials said grant money could help them hire highly qualified new officers by increasing starting salaries.
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“Additional funding would be a game changer,” Jefferson said in Chattanooga.
The number of applicants for vacant officer posts has declined in recent years, Hamilton County officials said in interviews.
Jefferson said the Chattanooga department has noticed that applicants are often actively applying and interviewing for multiple law enforcement positions at once.
“The recruiting pool has become increasingly difficult because everyone is scarce and everyone is looking for applicants,” Signal Mountain Police Chief Mike Williams said in a phone interview Monday.
Signal Mountain has hired four employees since January to fill vacancies left by officials who left for higher-paying jobs in schools, Williams said. Having four vacancies for about six months put a strain on the A department, which has 12 patrolman positions, Williams said.
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Grants would take some pressure off the city’s budget when trying to fill vacancies, Williams said. A pay raise, currently being considered by the city council, would also help, he said.
“A lot of it gets paid,” Soddy-Daisy Police Chief Mike Sneed said in a phone interview Monday. “They have a lot of these local factories and things that pay quite a lot of money and they don’t put their lives at risk.”
Sneed said a new pay plan recently approved by city commissioners has increased wages for many officers and helped his department retain employees.
In East Ridge, Chief Clint Uselton said although the number of applicants has decreased, the quality has increased. The department lacked a sworn officer as of April, Uselton said.
“If we have a position now, we might get eight or ten[applicants],” he said over the phone. “But we also interviewed five people for a spot and wish we could hire them all.”
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.
Staff photo of Olivia Ross/Signal Mountain Patrol Officer Virgil Lanning works at his desk Tuesday. US Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Jon Ossoff of Georgia have introduced legislation that would provide $162 million to help law enforcement agencies struggling to keep full staff.
