Politics & Government

Police Chief Meet-and-Greet Set for Wednesday

Powder Springs residents will have a chance to talk with position finalists Tom Arnold, Jeffery Pearce and William Sewell at the Coach Ford Center next week.

The city is set to host a meet-and-greet with the three finalists for the open chief position on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Coach Ford Center's .

The at Monday's City Council meeting as 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 .

Arnold has been serving as interim chief while still working for the county since early April.

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The three 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 city must wait at least 14 days following the announcement of the finalists before City Manager Rick Eckert can make a hiring recommendation to the City Council, which must then approve the recommendation. The June 20 council meeting will fall exactly 14 days after Monday's announcement.

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The former chief, L. Rick Richardson, was  after being on leave since late November.

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

 


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