Savannah City Council unanimously approves Berkshire Advisors police study/funding recommendations (violent crime, moving)

[Airforceguy]

I glad the city adopted this plan.

The unanimous vote shows the city is eager to move forward with improving Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department.

Once everyone approved the recommendations, Mayor Eddie DeLoach told us to take notice that this is a big deal. This was a sign to everyone the city is prepared to stay in the police merger.

"We are looking to approve the police force, I think this is a step in the right direction. When it is all said and done, I think the city and the county will be thankful for the step we have taken here, when the county takes their step moving forward we will all have a great police force," said Mayor DeLoach. "Where we fall off is into the county areas, in the large areas of land. The concentration of additional officers will be over into the county area, although the city will be picking up a good portion of that. Everyone needs to realize that we are doing this so that all of our people in Chatham County can have great response times."

The recommendation chosen by the city is to have Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Dept. respond to Priority 1 violent crimes within seven minutes. That's a response time they want not just for those in Savannah proper, but the whole county, even the unincorporated areas.

The city wants to be able to achieve this goal over a period of three years, which was the shortest suggested time. The city continues to stress they agreed to have the study done along with the county. By selecting the option of the seven-minute response time phased in over three years, the City of Savannah is committed to adding 146 more police officers to the force.

Savannah City Council unanimously approves Berkshire Advisors po - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports