WARREN D. GRANT: Let voters decide structure for Albany and Dougherty County police

Several years ago, I had a county deputy respond to a call at my house. Before leaving, we were talking about pay. He had not been on the force long and I’m not sure of the exact pay he stated when I asked him, but it was less than $15 per hour. I was astounded that this man could be walking around with a bull’s eye on his back for that little amount of money. I could not understand how the department could possibly retain employees with such little pay.

Kevin Sproul’s article Wednesday tells it exactly they way it is and the way it’s going to be unless a raise does come, and quickly. But I see part of the problem as we have service being duplicated and, if that were eliminated, I believe there would be more money for officers’ pay. It appears that the struggle to keep Albany police, the Dougherty County police, (sheriff’s office) is not in the best interest of the county.

What, then, is the reason for this not getting fixed? I can only surmise that the top positions do not want to give up their authority and, until this problem is fixed, we will have the condition as it is now.

Bring it to a vote and let the people of Dougherty County make the decision.

WARREN D. GRANT

Albany