Henry County Board of Commissioners Chair Carlotta Harrell and the National Council of Negro Women co-hosted a public safety town hall meeting on Tuesday, February 28. The event was moderated by award-winning news anchor Monica Pearson and included Henry County Police Chief Mark Amerman, Solicitor General Pam Bettis, District Attorney Darius Pattillo, and Sheriff Reginald Scandrett.
Those in attendance heard from the panelists on a wide range of safety and justice-related topics. Pearson opened by stating that the goal of the night was not just to learn, but to close the gap to public safety. She then asked what the top challenge is facing law enforcement administrators today.
“It’s probably recruitment and retention,” said Chief Amerman. “Officers are leaving the profession. The negativity surrounding law enforcement has a weight.”
Sheriff Scandrett noted that wages were a big factor in that.
“There’s not one Sheriff in Georgia or across the nation that’s not having trouble hiring and retaining,” said Scandrett. “A lot of that is pay. The pay for what law enforcement officers do is laughable.”
Considerable time was then spent on the subject of officer accountability when there are concerns around misconduct.
“As a profession, we need to try and fix the problem,” said Amerman. “And to me it can be fixed with setting an example that starts with me and trickles all the way down. And training the officers so that when you see something wrong to fix it at the root where the rubber meets the road…we crave accountability. We want to dig in on those problems and weed them out.”
Scandrett added a note about the importance of psychological testing, not just in hiring, but throughout an officer’s career.
“We need to consistently do more psychological testing of officers,” added Scandrett. “Imagine how difficult it may be clinically to unpack a situation you [officers] see every day. If you go to a homicide…a lot of the time you get to a traffic stop without any of that unpacked. Things happen…we need to get those officers the help they need right now.”
The town hall then turned to programs and efforts by the County to offer alternatives to incarcerations, with an emphasis on non-violent and/or first-time offenders.
“One program that I’m incredibly proud of is pre-trial intervention, which is a program for first time offenders,” said Solicitor General Pam Bettis.
She went on to detail counseling, drug and alcohol assessments, and extensive staff work that goes into the program. Pearson said it sounded like Bettis was doing social work instead of putting people in jail.
Bettis agreed that is it a mix of law and social work.
District Attorney Darius Pattillo then highlighted his diversion efforts.
“We try to redeem people that we feel are redeemable,” said Pattillo. “So we’ve started pre-trial diversion in the DA’s office, which didn’t exist when I took office six years ago…We’ve had at least 500 people go through that program. When people are held accountable, do their restitution, community service, drug treatment, other things, for their nonviolent offense. They can go on to have a productive life and be a part of the community”
Throughout the event, the panelists emphasized that collaboration and communication between their offices was key to success for each of them. And that they have together seen great progress in this regard.
Those looking to see the town hall in full can visit the Henry County YouTube and Facebook pages to see the recording.
