The Hinesville Police Department is creating a new position that its leaders hope will alleviate its manpower shortage.

City council members approved four new spots called public safety support specialists. These members of the police force, who will not be sworn officers, are expected to allow police officers to continue their duties.

“That would free up my sworn officers to handle other more pending calls, crimes in progress or felony calls,” Chief Lloyd Slater told council members.

The HPD is allotted 11 officers per shift, but the department, much like its brethren across the country, is having trouble filling its ranks, Chief Slater acknowledged. The public safety support specialist will not be added to the shift but instead will take the vacant spot of a sworn officer.

In his letter to council members outlining the need to turn four sworn officers spots, one per shift, to public safety support specialists, Chief Slater noted that police departments throughout the U.S. are having difficulty recruiting and retaining officers. This difficulty, the chief wrote, is a problem affecting law enforcement everywhere, including the Hinesville Police Department.

The HPD’s current turnover rate means the department can reach a critical tipping point within the next eight to 10 years, the chief pointed out. What that means, he said, is rather than being proactive in community policing, his officers will be reacting.

“The city is growing while the police department is shrinking,” he said. “That is potentially going to be a problem. Within the next eight to 10 years, that could be a problem. Whenever we start becoming more reactive rather than proactive, that’s when we were failing to manage public safety.”

As officers are not replaced, those officers who remain could be overworked and burn out, the chief warned. The HPD recently lost four personnel — one to the GBI, one to the teaching profession, one to a position in Atlanta and one to the Liberty County Sheriff ’s Office to fill a role the HPD does not have.

The chief also said there is letter from another officer stating an intent to retire.

Finding replacements has become a concern for the HPD and other police departments. Some candidates don’t even show up for the physical agility test, and others get disqualified through background checks.

Chief Slater also said that the segment of the population designated as “Generation Z,” which would provide the bulk of the candidates, has different goals in mind.

“We’re competing for good officers,” he said. “But this seems to be a generational issue. When we came in, we sought to make it a career. Gen Z, they are not coming in for the same reasons. The ones that are coming in are not staying for a prolonged period of time.

“If I get one for more than five years, I feel like I’m working on borrowed time.”

By having public safety support specialists, the chief said, they can respond to such incidents as a vehicle backing into another in a parking lot, leaving a sworn officer to continue to be on patrol. As another example, a homeowner who was out of town for several days and has a bicycle stolen from their property would have a public safety support specialist get in contact with them.

For other such “cold cases” or misdemeanors, residents may feel more at ease talking with a member of the police department who isn’t carrying a sidearm and isn’t showing up in a marked vehicle with blue lights, Chief Slater said.

“They don’t look like police, they don’t act like police,” he said.

Moving those four spots from sworn officers to public safety support specialists saves about $16,000 a year, the chief said, covering the cost of a vehicle for the new position. Those vehicles will be smaller and silver in color, with amber lights.

“It is not a red light, it is not a blue light,” Chief Slater said.

Sworn officers have 15 weeks of training but public safety support specialists will have seven weeks of training. They also can augment sworn officers by directing traffic or securing crime scenes.

Chief Slater said they will not be sent out to calls such as those involving domestic violence.

“By adding the support specialist, we’re increasing our presence on the road,” Council member Karl Riles said. “You may get an officer with more experience. To me, it’s a win-win. It’s a fantastic idea.”