Atlanta crime dropping despite falling short of goal to hire officers, police chief says

ATLANTA - Nearly one in four police officer jobs in Atlanta are vacant.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told the Atlanta City Council he came up shy by about two dozen officers of Mayor Andre Dickens goal to hire 250 new officers.

He is set to try again and is looking for backing from the council to achieve the goal this year.

"We are right now showing a 25% decline in crimes against persons compared to the same time last year," Schierbaum reported.

The chief emphasized that despite the manpower challenges, the department is making headway in many of the crime categories. 

The toughest to turn around are some of the property crimes, especially car crimes.

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Under Schierbaum, police desk jobs are being turned over to civilians to try to maximize the number of sworn officers that can go back out into neighborhoods. 

Dustin Hillis, who chairs the Public Safety Panel, has offered some ideas aimed at keeping established officers from going elsewhere.

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Hillis asked Schierbaum to support offering shift differential pay for officers who work the night and overnight shifts.

The chief responded generally that APD "must do everything to be competitive" with other jurisdictions.