Fairhope Looks to Attract Area Officers With a New Perk
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
August 4, 2025
FAIRHOPE, Ala. The city of Fairhope is growing, and that means more employees are being recruited to the city, including police officers.
But as recruitment of law enforcement nationwide is beginning to heat up after a five-year low, many departments are offering more money and better benefits.
One of those benefits for police officers in many agencies across the country is a take home vehicle, giving the officer the ability to commute to work at the city’s expensive, thus the officer’s expense on gas, vehicle maintenance, and insurance.
Now, the Fairhope police chief wants the city to extend how far an officer can drive the city vehicle to their home.
Police Chief Stephanie Hollinghead brought the idea to the city council’s recent meeting.
“The existing policy is a 15-mile radius,” she told the council. “That was adopted back in April of 2014. We are asking you all to consider changing it to a 30-mile radius to include Mobile County. We ask this for recruitment purposes. This is no secret. I think I’ve communicated with all of you all that we’re having issues with recruitment. It’s not just Fairhope that’s having this issue. It’s countywide, and it’s statewide. We’re just having some issue getting quality applicants to apply.” It’s not an original idea, says Chief Hollinghead.
Hollinghead told the council such a perk could pull more experienced officers from Mobile, saving money spent on training and recruitment.
Other departments in the area already have this policy in place.
As the Mobile Police Department is about to finally reach full strength — the City of Fairhope is working to make itself more attractive to officers in Mobile County.
The Fairhope council says it will seriously consider the proposal.
Copyright 2025 Blue RAM Media. All rights reserved.
