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Glynn County police cite recruiting progress, plan new complaint-tracking software and expanded community outreach
Summary
At a quarterly execution review, county public-safety leaders reported hiring gains and retention improvements for the police department, outlined a new public-facing complaint/compliment tracking system, and described plans to expand community engagement through a Citizens Academy, targeted advertising and neighborhood events.
Glynn County public-safety officials told the Board of Commissioners that the county’s police department has made hiring and retention gains but remains short of longer-term recruitment goals, and that the department will seek a new public complaint-and-compliment tracking system and an updated county website to increase transparency.
County staff emphasized why the measures matter: police staffing affects patrol coverage, community engagement and the department’s ability to document internal investigations and public feedback in a consistent way.
At the quarterly execution review, Scott, a county staff member who led the police presentation, described the department’s recent outreach and hiring work and the planned technology changes. He said the county intends to present a purchase request to the finance committee on March 6 for an iPro software platform that would allow members of the public to file complaints or compliments online and create a unified internal database that, officials said, should make complaint histories easier to track across years.
Scott summarized hiring and application figures the department compiled for 2024: about 287 applicants, roughly 90 were certified, and the department hired a “just under 6 percent” share of applicants, according to the presentation. He and other speakers said background checks are eliminating many candidates — a deliberate quality-control step — and that retention improved from 26 resignations or terminations in 2023 to 11 in 2024.
“Those are the topics that we covered … hiring, recruiting, and retaining, and then, of course, the advertising campaign that all of you have supported,” Scott said. He told commissioners the department had roughly 30 participants in the inaugural Citizens Academy and plans to run additional classes in 2025; the academy was described as a six-week evening program intended to build community familiarity with policing practices and encourage broader participation in outreach programs.
Commissioners asked how the county will recruit and select participants for future Citizens Academy classes; Scott said the county would open registration to the public but also invite commissioner recommendations so the program does not become concentrated in a single part of Glynn County.
Officials described changes to the department’s external-facing tools. Scott said the county is rewriting departmental pages as part of a countywide website overhaul and that the iPro platform is intended to provide a public portal and consistent internal tracking for allegations, compliments and other contacts. “We wanna be fair, but we also wanna be timely in our investigations,” Scott said when describing the rationale for the software.
The presentation outlined advertising and recruiting tactics the department has used: billboards, radio, social media and targeted geofencing of military installations to reach service members transitioning to civilian careers. Scott said that geofencing and targeted social-media advertising have been “very fruitful” for recruiting and can be more cost-effective when narrowly targeted.
Officials also discussed community events and patrol visibility. The department said it aims to host at least one command-level community event per month and would like to increase to two when staffing permits. Commissioners suggested additional neighborhood events — for example, planned bike-patrol visits where officers meet residents and children — to boost informal engagement.
No formal votes or policy changes were taken at the meeting. Commissioners asked staff to return with more refined performance metrics for police activity (examples discussed included measuring neighborhood patrols, citizen contacts and time-to-case metrics) and to bring back the finance committee packet for the iPro software purchase on the scheduled committee agenda.
Ending: County staff said they will continue to refine recruiting plans, measure neighborhood engagement, and pursue the iPro purchase and website improvements in coming months. Commissioners agreed the Citizens Academy and targeted outreach should continue as tools to connect residents with the police department.
