Anyone looking for an Atlanta job may want to consider investing in the industry that invests in protecting the people.

It seems as though many jobs in Atlanta can be found within the Atlanta Police Department, as the department has offset its recent cluster of retired employees and managed to hire more officers, which in turn has brought a decrease in crime.

According to a City of Atlanta article, the department saw its employment grow from 2002 to 2007, as employment went from 1,433 to 1,768, an increase of 335 people. Atlanta’s law enforcement has been able to add workers even though 7 to 9 percent of the department has left or retired.

The department has a total of 1,833 sworn positions and has averaged 50 vacancies over the past 18 months. This translates to a vacancy rate of about 3 percent, typical for such a large organization.

“This does not mean that we don’t need the vacant positions,” the article notes. “Even if we abolished the vacant positions as a cost saving measure, we would still have an organizational 3 percent vacancy level (it never goes away), which just means that if we cut existing vacancies (resulting in a total of 1,780 sworn positions) our filled positions would eventually decrease to about 1,725 sworn officers. No matter how many officers we have at any one time, we are likely to have 97 percent filled sworn positions.”

The article notes some people have suggested the department cut its unfilled positions as an easy way to decrease the police department’s budget. However, this would potentially lead to fewer police officers on the street, a risk the city isn’t willing to take.

In May and June 2008, the city began to see a reduction in crime. Compared to the same six week period in 2007, Atlanta’s crime rate decreased 9 to 10 percent.

“We are hoping this represents the turning of a corner,” the article adds. “It is not out of the question to believe a 0 percent increase for 2008 is still possible. That’s what we’re working toward.”