Police Major Says Farewell to City After 14 Years

A 14-year chapter of Powder Springs police Maj. Mark Weaver’s life came to a close on Wednesday, his last day on the force. 

His coworkers and other city officials came to visit with him and have cake and punch at the new .

Weaver, 52, sat down with Patch afterward and reflected on his 33-year career in law enforcement, which includes encounters with an original 1933 Georgia state trooper, former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and the United Kingdom’s Princess Anne.

He doesn’t have plans to retire from Georgia law enforcement quite yet; he’s just ready for a change.

“It’s not done on purpose,” the Dallas resident said. “I’ve got an eight- or nine-year cycle.”

Some of the things he’s most proud of since starting part-time in 1997 are his work with DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) and GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training). He brought to the department the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program, which teaches children what to do when they find a gun.

Police Chief Charlie Sewell, who’s working his first month on the job, said he appreciates Weaver's many years of service.

“Even before I arrived here, we communicated back and forth,” he said. “I asked him to take care of some issues for me, and … everything I asked him to do, he took care of it. And I appreciate that so very much.

“He made my transition very easy,” he added.

Among Sewell is looking to make, he plans to bring on two new majors—one to fill Weaver’s shoes, and another to take over for the former deputy chief position.

In 1978, Weaver started with the state capitol’s police team straight out of high school. He had already been working security there for two years under his boss, who was on the state’s original 1933 state trooper force.

“He kept telling me, ‘I’ll put you on the police department when you get out of high school. And so I brought my diploma and showed it to him,” Weaver chuckled.

That same year, it was off to the Army National Guard, where Weaver would serve for seven years. He came back to the state capitol police shortly before moving on to the Clayton County Police Academy.

From there, Weaver was hired by the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, working his way through ranks and starting the force’s first underwater search and rescue team.

“It’s still going today,” he said.

In 1987, he transitioned to the state’s Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.

“POST is kind of like the BAR for attorneys: They regulate everything (for law enforcement) and you’ve got to pass their standards. And they also regulate if any officers violate any POST act or the law.”

Weaver became an agent for former Georgia Secretary of State Max Cleland’s office, where he investigated cases related to medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors and the like.

“I worked a case one time where they broke a patient’s neck, but the person didn’t know their neck was broken for a while,” he said. “A lot of times, chiropractors try to do things beyond their scope … so we had those cases.”

During his tenure with the secretary of state, he worked security during the 1996 Olympics alongside the Secret Service and other agencies. His first assignment: protect his “principal,” Boutros-Ghali.

“We were right there with him all the time,” he recalled, adding that the former United Nations secretary-general left after only a day and a half.

“So when Ghali left, I just floated and helped everybody,” he said, adding that one of his other assignments was to keep Princess Anne safe. 

“We (map the) best way in, quickest way out, emergency way out, backup way out, nearest hospital, nearest fire station, nearest everything—you organize all that,” he said.

He remembers finding out about the Olympic bombing from his hotel room. “Everything was so clogged, and I was just waiting for a phone call. But they had enough people there to handle the situation.”

As he continued to work for the secretary of state after the Olympics—as well as part-time weekend security for Lockheed Martin on the F-22 project—he began to explore other options that wouldn’t require such tiring hours. 

“It was burning me out because it was 12-hour days on Saturday and Sunday, and then I had to go back to work Monday,” he remembered. “So I started looking around see if I could find something.”

He checked with Hiram police, which didn’t have positions but suggested trying Powder Springs. He started with the city in 1997 and moved to full time in 2000. He has been a major for almost 10 years.

The past nine months have been the most challenging during his time on the force, Weaver said. He mentioned the transitioning of both and buildings, as well as the time when he oversaw the department before Cobb County police Maj. Tom Arnold in early April.

Since he was only an acting chief, he said, he couldn’t make staffing transitions or purchase equipment. “That’s all I was trying to do was keep it steady.” 

The soon-to-be grandfather has two or three applications out, but he’s not in too much of a rush.

Though Weaver said he’ll miss the citizens of Powder Springs, it’s the relationships with his city coworkers he’ll reflect on most with his departure.

“I haven’t met a city employee that I didn’t like,” he said. “We work together well—everybody from to to . And we all know each other at least a little bit. Some of us know each other really well.”

“That’s one good thing about working for not a small town but a medium-sized town.”