ATLANTA — A Georgia study committee is recommending that starting law enforcement salaries in the state start at the national average, which could mean a significant pay increase for many officers.

The recommendation is among several by the State and Local Law Enforcement Salaries Study Committee to help recruit and retain workers in the grueling profession. Butch Ayers, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, told the committee of the national average of $56,000 at a previous meeting.

“I say if we’re gonna start anywhere, start with what the research has shown is at least ($56,000),” said Rep.Yasmin Neal, a committee member and former law enforcement officer. “At least we’ll put something out there so the different local entities will know where we’re trying to get to, like this is the bare minimum.”

Just before the committee approved its proposal Dec. 13, Neal suggested that the minimum salary recommendation be included in the committee’s final report, and the board unanimously approved Neal’s amendment.

While numbers vary depending on the sources, the majority of them show that Georgia ranks sixth in states with the lowest salaries among law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average salary of police and sheriff’s patrol officers is a little more than $70,000.

California tops the list of highest average salaries for officers at nearly $103,000, followed by Washington, New Jersey, Alaska and Illinois.

Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina and West Virginia are at the bottom of the list with average salaries less than Georgia’s average salary of approximately $47,000.

“That is absolutely terrible,” said committee member Rep. Clint Crowe. “I don’t think we can mandate (a minimum salary). I don’t know that we would ever be able to do that. But we can certainly encourage it and try to, down the road, find ways to help some departments reach that.”

Other recommendations from the committee include:

Creating an optional statewide law enforcement retirement system that is accessible to all new public safety employees in the state. The statewide plan could move with the employee if they move to another public safety agency in the state.Amending the Georgia code to allow an agency to seek training expenses from another agency that hire their employee who leave within 15 months.Encouraging the University System of Georgia to work with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center to create a law enforcement degree.Encouraging the University System of Georgia to expand the number of universities that accept Georgia Public Safety Training Center coursework toward degree credits.

“As far as retirement goes, I know how when you get to a certain point that that can cause you to maybe stay a little longer and not get out once you get to that point,” said Crowe, also a former law enforcement officer. “If you’re in a position like I was, I decided when I was done where I was at, to get out of the profession altogether. If I were able to transfer my pension to another department, I might would have stayed in longer and finished out my career there before moving into the private sector to do other things.”

Chairman Rep. Mike Cheokas said any approved proposals at the state-level related retirement would require a two-year process,” with a recommendation in the first year and and actuarial analysis in the second year. Lawmakers would then consider the proposal on the floor for discussion and passage.

“One of the most concerning things to me was the drop in applications for many departments — that’s the problem, Crowe said.

“Not only are we losing people, we’re not having enough people even apply to fill one of those roles and so we’ve got to do some things to make it so folks want to serve in this profession again.”

The committee’s recommendations would go to the public safety committee to consider before any potential legislation is considered by lawmakers.