Rincon police and fire departments hope to be fully staffed within the next few weeks. Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell and Rincon Fire Chief Lou Reed gave their optimistic reports to the Rincon City Council at its Feb. 13 meeting.
The Rincon Police Department currently has 20 officers. It needs three more officers to be fully staffed.
“We’re in a whole lot better position now than we have been in the recent past,” said Chief Murrell. “We we're down six officers at one point.” Murrell was named interim police chief in September 2019 and police chief in June 2020.
Police department applicants who come from the military with a law enforcement background have an advantage over other applicants without previous law enforcement training.
Chief Murrell explained one of their potential hires with military law enforcement certification recently completed the State of Georgia’s equivalency of training, which is “a shortened version of the academy,” Murrell said.
“They get familiar with Georgia law and Georgia criminal procedure. And then they are certified. (Georgia is) trying to address the lack of applications in law enforcement. And that's helping military people so that's what that guy did. He's coming from Florida. He's already certified because he did the equivalents.” This new officer should be with Rincon PD by the middle of March.
Another applicant is currently in the academy and is set to graduate in March. “And then he'll come with us and start training on patrol. Our field training process is another 10 weeks,” Murrell said. Another potential hire is already a sworn officer transferring from another department and wants to give them a month’s notice. This officer should be in Rincon by the end of the month.
The Rincon Fire Department is also nearly fully staffed. It has two potential new hires that should start this month, bringing the total to 12 “on the floor” and Rincon Fire Chief Reed makes 13.
“We have one rookie in school right now at Georgia Public Safety Training Center. He graduates March 17. He's doing real well,” said Chief Reed. “And I have one fireman awaiting his pulmonary function test (PFT). If he passes pulmonary function test and accepts his job offer, we will be fully staffed again.” The PFT is conducted by an emergency medical technician and measures breathing capacity and air flow to ensure that a firefighter can do the job safely, even under the most strenuous conditions. The PFT assesses air flow in the lungs during inhalation and exhalation.
Rincon FD has not been fully staffed since 2016, according to Chief Reed.
Currently Rincon FD covers 90 square miles – the City of Rincon and parts of Effingham County.
“We have a good working relationship with the county. The county contract expires on June 30, then (Effingham County Fire) will cover 81 square miles and we will cover (Rincon),” Chief Reed explained. He added that Rincon FD will continue to aid the county fire department as needed.
Chief Reed has been with Rincon FD since 2011. He’s moved up through the ranks as lieutenant and captain and was promoted to chief in December 2021. He added that he’s finishing up his bachelor’s degree in fire administration and then will start a master’s in public administration.
