Sandy Springs will buy ballistic shields for police officers, explore insurance options

Ballistic shields may prove useful when police officers face armed persons Photo by Bob Pepalis The Sandy Springs Police Department will buy lightweight ballistic shields costing to protect its officers using its Confiscated Assets fund The Sandy Springs City Council approved an increase to the fund to to cover the cost of the shields and for any other small tools and equipment the police department may need by the end of the year Seized assets confiscated by law enforcement agencies through forfeitures are called confiscated assets according to Awbrey s description to the city council Governmental agencies may use these funds to cover costs associated with the forfeiture process Funds that remain are distributed by court order for use by law enforcement agencies in encouragement of law enforcement-related sessions City spends million on healthcare insurance Sandy Springs will continue using wellbeing insurance from Cigna for its employees for another year as it looks to change to a self-insured model in the future The Sandy Springs City Council approved a million contract award to Cigna for fiscal year based on the current count of employees and dependents The council allocated million for fitness benefits costs in its FY budget approved in June Human Tools Director Elizabeth Awbrey reported in her assessment during the Nov city council meeting Aetna Anthem Captive Support and Kaiser did not offer bids because of the city s states history Insurance providers who submitted proposals ranged from to percent higher than rates Awbrey communicated the council that two feasibility assessments on self-funding insurance determined that Sandy Springs would need to set aside between million and million to transition to self-funded coverage We are transitioning our dental plan to a self-insured model for allowing us to test our approach with minimal financial exposure Awbrey noted Employee premiums will remain the same without an increase for the seventh consecutive year Awbrey explained that will help preserve the city s competitiveness in attracting and retaining top talent The contract covers employee and their dependents We re spending a lot of money here and if there s a way to save money still cover our employees and not make the insurance companies as rich as they as of now are I m in favor of it So please keep us informed City Council Member John Paulson stated The post Sandy Springs will buy ballistic shields for police officers explore insurance options appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta