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'Your people, you're just kind of taxing their limitations': Georgia senator introduces bill to help law enforcement hire more officers

Sen. Jon Ossoff says his bipartisan legislation aims to increase COPS hiring grants by 50%.

FORSYTH, Ga. — Law enforcement shortages are impacting agencies all over Central Georgia.

Recently, we reported Bibb County needed about 100 deputies to fill out the rolls. 

Now, Sen. Jon Ossoff is pushing a new bill he believes will help agencies hire more officers. 

He says the goal is simple: increasing the federally funded COPS Hiring Grant by 50% to help law enforcement in Georgia recruit and retain new officers.

"Police chiefs and sheriffs across Georgia have told me about the difficulty they're having hiring and retaining personnel," Sen. Ossoff said.

It's a difficulty Monroe County Sheriff Brad Freeman knows all too well.

"We only have 90, and we're 15 short," he said.

It's about 86% of a full department.

"You're just overworking your people, you're paying a lot more in overtime, and your people, you're just kind of taxing their limitations," Freeman said.

Sen. Ossoff hopes his bill, filed alongside Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, can help departments like Freeman's. 

Last year, congress awarded nearly $140 million in COPS grants to 180 departments nationwide.

Georgia law enforcement agencies saw about $3 million come in from COPS grants. It funded about 25 officers mostly around Atlanta.

Ossoff says there's currently no federal background check requirement for officers hired using the grant money. His bill aims to change that.

"Ensuring that new recruits for these departments and sheriff's offices undergo rigorous vetting," Ossoff said.

Sheriff Freeman says it's a good idea, but he does worry about some of the possible requirements, like paperwork.

"It would be great, but like I said, then you've got somebody on the back end having to make sure you're doing all these things the grant requires you to do like reporting and things like that," Freeman said.

He worries that could take more deputies off the street than he brings in to work.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office did not get a portion of the grant last year, but Sheriff Freeman says if they had, any new hires would go through the same background check and vetting process as all other deputies.

Ossoff's office says Bibb County Sheriff David Davis is a strong supporter of the legislation. 

In a new release, Sheriff Davis said in part:

"As leader of one of the largest local law enforcement agencies in Georgia, it is essential for me to be able to hire capable and professional deputies. This proposal will help achieve that goal."

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