DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond announced Thursday a plan to give raises to a wide-ranging group of public safety personnel.
The proposed 4% pay bumps would cover approximately 2,300 county employees — everyone from police and firefighters to probation and code enforcement officers.“This is a holistic approach to helping DeKalb become a safe, secure community,” Thurmond said following a press conference in which he was flanked by law enforcement officials.DeKalb County, like many large jurisdictions across metro Atlanta and the country, has often struggled to recruit and retain public safety personnel. Generally speaking, smaller agencies can be more nimble and offer better pay. There’s added pressure in a place like DeKalb, where many crime statistics are down but a new annual homicide record was set before Halloween.