The City of

Senoia has decided to raise the stakes in keeping its police officers.

The City Council

voted unanimously Monday night to raise the starting pay of its officers

to $26,000 a year.

The main reason

is the defection rate of the city's police officers to other departments.

City Administrator

Leonard Thompson said the city has lost several officers to Fayette County

and Fayetteville, simply because of the pay.

"Many

times we lost them just because of $1 more an hour," he said.

While the city

cannot stop defections because some officers want a "busier"

department, Thompson said the city can change the pay rate to at least

stay competitive with other jurisdictions.

Mayor Joan

Trammell agreed with Thompson and said this is the latest step in keeping

the good officers on the city's force.

The city recently

passed a policy that makes officers pay back their training if they move

to another jurisdiction after the city paid for their initial training.