Naming of Chief Moved to July 7

Powder Springs will have to wait about a week to find out who the new police chief will be. 

Mayor Pat Vaughn said at tonight’s called meeting that the announcement will be made at another called meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 7 at 9 a.m.

The mayor said the city was originally aiming at naming the chief on June 20, which exactly met the 14-day required public comment period after the .

“And I think that (City Manager Rick) Eckert had hoped to have it ready by (tonight), but it isn’t," she said.

Vaughn said some information about the candidates, like references, is still coming in.

Eckert must make a recommendation to the City Council, which must then approve the nomination.

The three candidates are current interim chief and Cobb County police Maj. ; , an assistant special agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and McMinnville, TN Police Chief .

They were chosen from a field of 31 initial applicants by an independent panel consisting of Kennesaw Police Chief William Westenberger, Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn, and Gerald Peal, owner of the APeal Agency, which specializes in polygraphs.

The has been without a permanent chief for about seven months—with Maj. Mark Weaver overseeing the department from late November until Arnold as interim chief on April 6.

In late November, the former chief, L. Rick Richardson, while the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department investigated his alleged authorization of the illegal sale of city vehicles. 

Upon the return of the sheriff’s department investigation, Richardson was fired dated Feb. 9.

The letter said he authorized the sale of two surplus police cars for an undervalued amount directly to the Braswell Police Department in 2007 instead of having them put up for auction, which is required by law for surplus city items. Vaughn later clarified that there was a third car involved.

Correction: The original version of this article said Saturday, July 7 at 9 a.m. instead of Thursday, July 7 at 9 a.m. for the date of the called meeting.