The Greenwood Police Department, already critically low on patrol officers, is facing the prospect of two additional officers being out for a while.
Officers Greg Fernandez and Mark Mulconrey were injured in a three-vehicle accident last week.
Fernandez suffered a broken back in the weather-related collision, and Mulconrey suffered a neck injury, according to Mayor Carolyn McAdams.
Surgery was performed on Fernandez on Monday in Jackson.
“I feel comfortable they’ll be able to return,” she said.
Fernandez, according to his doctors, will be able to return to the department following six months of therapy, the mayor said.
The department is now down 11 patrol officers, including Fernandez and Mulconrey.
“We have 26 on patrol. We have a total of around 50 gun-carrying officers,” McAdams said. “Where we’re short is in the patrol staff.”
Last week, McAdams said she would be proposing a salary increase for both police and firefighters, which is to be voted on by the City Council at its meeting next Tuesday. The effort is an attempt to attract new recruits and retain officers already on the force.
Although McAdams did say she’s come up with the proposed pay hike, she declined to specify how much it would be.
McAdams and City Council President Ronnie Stevenson have said that an across-the-board pay raise for city employees would be included in next year’s budget. The city’s budget year runs from October through September.
The mayor said she expects that the pay hike will require an increase in city taxes.
“The city of Greenwood has not increased its taxes in 10 years. If everything else is going up, you have to increase your revenue,” she said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
