Joe Grooms, Mayor of Brooklet, GA confirmed to Grice Connect that the Brooklet Police Department is down to one full time officer and the Chief. Chief Gary Roberts has also given Mayor Grooms his letter of resignation, but Mayor Grooms did not accept it.
"We have been struggling like most small towns to generate enough revenue to keep critical city services, like the police department operating. It is a hard balance to keep rolling back tax rates to help our citizens, but also have enough revenue to operate the city," said Mayor Gooms.
Brooklet Police department, a city with 1,876 citizens, pays their officers $16.25 per hour. Agencies all around Brooklet are paying certified officers $20 to $23 per hour. This makes it difficult to keep officers on duty.
Brooklet has been fully staffed with five full-time officers, including the chief. Over the last few weeks, three of the four patrol officers have left for other jobs and the chief has resigned out of frustration.
"I have been trying to communicate with the Mayor and Council the dire situation our department would be in if we did not find a way to increase the officers pay. When they didn't find the funds to increase the pay, the officers moved on to better opportunities," said Chief Gary Roberts. "As much as they loved serving the citizens of Brooklet, they have to look out for their families as well. I can't fault them for that."
The Brooklet City Council will meet on Thursday at 7:00 PM at City Hall. At this meeting, Grooms said he hopes the council can find a way to increase the officers pay. Even though that may not provide immediate help, it will allow them to be competitive as they begin to rebuild the department again.
Chief Roberts took over the department after retiring from the City of Savannah Police department. He stepped into a department plagued with controversy and had to rebuild the department. He had success in recruiting other officers from the City of Savannah as they retired. The last remaining officer, Michelle Reolegio in fact came from the City of Savannah.
"When I took over I discovered a department that was working off of 1990 operating procedures. We first had our work to do in updating the operations of the department and then recruit a team of officers that would help us restore the public's trust in the department again," said Chief Roberts.
Mayor Grooms asked Chief Roberts to stay on through Thursday's city council meeting. If they could not figure out a way forward at that meeting then he would accept the chief's resignation.
"Chief Roberts has poured his heart into rebuilding this department. He is well loved by me and the citizens of the Brooklet community. None of us have showed him the appreciation he deserves for all that he has done for the police department and our city," said Mayor Grooms. "Losing him will be a huge gut punch to me and I hope we can find a way to keep him."
Chief Roberts expressed a great love for the City of Brooklet and shares a high regard and respect for Mayor Grooms as well.
"I have grown to love the citizens of Brooklet. It is a very special place. Even if they can figure out the funding, their still is a struggle with the lack of communication from the elected officials to the department heads. I am not sure that can be corrected in one meeting," said Chief Roberts. "Out of respect for the Mayor I have agreed to remain on through Thursday."
If Chief Roberts resigns, that will leave only one officer employed by the City of Brooklet, Officer Reolegio.
Grooms admitted that the city has experienced significant growth and the revenue has not kept up with the growth. He feels that the city is at a point that they need to hire a city manager to help run the city. Currently it is run by a part time council and Mayor. When you have that many people trying to run a city, it creates a lot of communication issues.
"With the growth that is coming, our challenges and opportunities are going to grow exponentially. We have to create a sustainable path forward to manage the growth and increasing expenses that will be needed to position the city to take advantage of all of these future opportunities," said Mayor Grooms. "Together the leadership and the citizens of Brookle will rise to this occasion as we always have."
The Brooklet City Council will meet on Thursday, December 15 at 7 PM at Brooklet City Hall, 104 Church Street, Brooklet, Georgia.
Bulloch County Sheriff's Department steps up
Sheriff Noel Brown offered reassurance to the citizens of Brooklet that they will step up and help in any way possible. "At the end of the day it is all Bulloch County. We work closely with the Brooklet Chief and Brooklet Police department to support them when they need us," said Sheriff Brown. "We hope they get this resolved quickly, but in the meantime, we are here for all the citizens of this county."
