Starting pay for Georgia troopers is lowest in the nation, official says

ATLANTA — The head of an organization that represents Georgia troopers says they have the worst pay of any state highway patrol in America.

Sgt. Charles Chapeau, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, says starting pay for troopers in Georgia is less than $36,000.

Chapeau says the low pay leads to a high turnover rate and makes the roads less safe.

He says data shows traffic fatalities were 1,170 in 2014, and last year, as the number of troopers dropped, there were at least 1,414 fatalities.

This was the first increase in traffic fatalities since 2007, just before the last Georgia trooper pay raise, according to Chapeau.

A Georgia State Patrol spokesperson said the numbers are accurate.

Lithia Springs native Chris Richardson says he didn’t make enough as a Georgia State Trooper, so he's moving to Texas, where he says he can make double his former salary as a Texas Highway Patrol trooper.

“You find yourself working off-duty a lot, trying to make ends meet,” he said.

Richardson said if the pay were the same, he would stay in Georgia.

Chapeau said troopers are leaving the state in droves.

State Rep. Bill Hitchens said he believes the chances of a fix specifically addressing trooper salaries this year is slim, but it is on the front burner for next year.

“I’ve talked with some of the people that control the budget,” he said.

An official from Gov. Nathan Deal’s office told Channel 2’s Mark Winne that law enforcement is a top priority for the governor.

He said Deal has included a 3 percent raise for state employees in his 2017 fiscal year budget.

A state Capitol insider told Winne the 2017 fiscal year budget is coming out of the Senate appropriations on Monday, so that is an excellent opportunity for anyone to add additional funds in the Senate.

Cox Media Group