Hoping to improve police service in Athens, city officials plan to apply for a grant to help pay for seven new officers.

In a unanimous vote Monday, City Council members authorized the mayor to apply for the grant, which is administered through the United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring plan. It would pay 75% of the salaries and benefits of seven officers for three years. The city would pay the remaining 25%, then 100% after three years.

APD currently has 48 sworn officers, including 27 patrol officers, five investigators, two assigned to code enforcement, three administrators, three officers in post-academy field training, five at the police academy and three positions open, Police Chief Floyd Johnson told The News Courier. 

Mayor Ronnie Marks told council members the city had applied for COPS hiring grants the past two years but was turned down.

City Grant Coordinator and Public Information Specialist Holly Hollman told council members it could be a few months before the city learns if it will receive a grant.

Marks told council members he plans to bring them a plan for a funding stream to hire more officers and increase the pay of police officers, firefighters and other first responders.

In an effort to increase the number of officers in the city and retain those already here, Capt. Trevor Harris conducted a study last year outlining the need to boost officer pay in order to prevent officers, who the city often pays to train, from moving to better-paying departments and taking their experience with them, which is costly.