Furloughs End for Atlanta Police Officers

ATLANTA --

Furloughs ended Thursday for Atlanta police and firefighters, 10 days after the Atlanta City Council approved a property tax hike late last month to put more officers and firefighters back on duty.

Meanwhile, firefighters returned to fire station 23 on Howell Mill Road in northwest Atlanta Thursday.

The station has been closed since December because of budget cuts.

For some homeowners, the firefighters at station 23 feel like family.

"They've saved our cat," said homeowner Terry Horgan. "We just like having them around. My husband is a chef and he tends to make more food than we ever need, so we like to share it with the fire station when we have extras."

But not everyone is feeling safer.

Berkeley Park Neighborhood Association President Michael Wagoner sees the reopening and the end to the furloughs as progress, but he said Wednesday that he still has concerns about his community's safety.

"All that we're getting is the same level of service that we had back in December when the furloughs took effect, and that wasn't adequate," Wagoner said.

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