ATHENS POLICE & FIRE: Chiefs express need for more manpower

Jan. 28--As Athens continues to grow in terms of population, are there enough firefighters and police officers to keep its citizens safe?

Current and projected staffing levels were a primary topic Monday during a work session of the City Council. Mayor Ronnie Marks on Friday said public safety remains the top priority of his administration.

"When we continue to grow from 20,000 to 21,000 and on past that, it will require more (police officers and firefighters)," he said. "We have to plan for the future."

Athens Fire & Rescue Service Chief Bryan Thornton said he needs more firefighters to meet staffing recommendations laid out in the National Fire Protection Association's standard 1710. His department is currently running 12 firefighters per shift over three shifts.

To help ease immediate staffing concerns, the council approved an application for a SAFER grant, which is an acronym for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response. If approved, the grant would provide Thornton an additional three firefighters.

The program would fund 75 percent of the firefighters' salaries and benefits for the first two years and 35 percent the third year. The city would then fund the firefighters' full salaries and benefits from the fourth year on. The city should know the status of that grant by midyear, Thornton said.

When asked Friday why three was the magic number, Thornton said it was a matter of economics. He explained he needs nine additional firefighters to hit a staffing level that would make his department compliant with NFPA guidelines, but he knows that's not financially possible right now.

"If we went full-blown NFPA, you'd want to have 15 on the scene for a regular house fire," Thornton said. "It's hard for cities to become NFPA compliant because the cost is not realistic, but we do the best we can."

Additional firefighters would also lower the city's ISO rating to a 1, which is the best. The city's rating is currently a 2, but Thornton said it could be lowered with more personnel. A low ISO rating can often equate to a lower rate on a homeowner's insurance premium.

Looking into the future, Thornton said it's very possible the city will need an additional firehouse to service a growing population.

"We've got to be constantly looking into the future," he said. "When we're doing our five and 10-year plan, we've got to try to stay ahead of everything. I can see (a new firehouse) coming in the future if Athens continues to grow."

Police needs

Like Thornton, Police Chief Floyd Johnson is keeping an eye on his current staffing levels and sees how those numbers may need to grow to match the city's population. He can envision how a new firehouse may also include a second police precinct.

Johnson recalls the day he interviewed for the chief position in 2012 and how he told the City Council he would need 10 new officers. It was his opinion, but it came as a surprise to council members.

"After they got over the shock, I told them it could be done over the next few years," he said.

The council approved the hiring of two new officers in 2014, but Johnson said more are needed. He currently has 48 full-time officers and one half-time officer to respond to everything from a fender-bender to a homicide.

There were 30,150 calls in 2016 that required some form of officer action. The chief said most of those occurred during specific times of the day like between 1-2 p.m. each day and 7-8 p.m. on Friday nights.

"Last year we averaged 384 calls during that time and that's calls for service or officer-initiated calls," he said.

In an effort to ease staffing concerns, Johnson is scheduling officers around the highest call volumes. He also plans to have some officers working an overlapping shift.

"We've really looked at what has taken most of our officers' time," he said. "Having mobile computers in the patrol cars and the ability to do a report in a car has helped."

The department recently created a fifth patrol zone that focuses more on the east side of town. He said the creation of the zone was in response to calls from citizens who felt a need for a higher police presence there.

Still, Johnson said his officers' duties extend to more than just writing tickets and taking theft reports. For example, his officers have to transport juvenile offenders and mental health patients back and forth to facilities across North Alabama on a regular basis. When that happens, it's time away from his or her regular duties. And anytime there's a private property accident, an officer may spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes writing a report.

Johnson said the biggest help to his department would be an additional code enforcement officer and one to two more officers as part of a traffic unit. Still, those officers will cost more money and he doesn't know when the city would be able to budget for those additional positions.

For now, however, Johnson said he feels his department has the size and experience needed to get the job done.

"I'm proud of our men and women and the work they do," he said. "I just can't really say enough good things about them."

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