Brantley Police Department implements new schedule
Published 9:47 am Thursday, August 15, 2013
Changes are coming to the police department schedule in Brantley, officials said Tuesday night.
With the new schedule, all officers employed with the Brantley Police Department will take a turn working the weekend.
Police Chief Titus Averette said he is happy with the new schedule.
“Each person will be working the weekend,” he said. “This will give them a chance to be out there with the traffic. From the information I have gathered, it will solve some of the problems we were having.”
Councilman Darryl Elliott brought to the attention of the council the manner in which officers are paid for working weekends.
Elliott explained that officers are paid for 40 hours. They work 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday and are also paid for on-call time, as a bonus for losing their weekends.
“We are proposing raises and I get news an officer is getting 40 hours for a weekend and only working 24 hours,” he said. “If we look at the log for the last six years, most aren’t getting called out of bed to work.”
Town Administrator Phillip Moseley and Averette both said this has been the policy before they began working for the town.
“Now the ship is tighter now than before,” Elliott said.
They all agreed to try the schedule for three months and make any adjustments needed.
Additionally, the council approved a fee schedule for those who seek to participate in the town’s pre-trial diversion program.
Municipal judge Mark Smyth recommended the schedule.
Anyone who wishes to participate must first pay a $50 application fee, which is non-refundable.
The fee schedule approved includes:
• $250 speeding fee
• $500 aggravated speeding fee, which is excessive speeding.
• $1,000 driving under the influence fee.
• $1,000 for any drug-related misdemeanor.
Once a person completes all steps required by the judge, the charges against them will be nolle prossqui, and will not go against the record.