Powder Springs Police Chief Fired

After being on paid administrative leave for two and a half months, Powder Springs Police Chief L. Rick Richardson has been fired, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

Richardson will appeal the decision to a board comprised of the City Council and mayor, City Manager Rick Eckert told the Journal via e-mail. 

Council members declined to comment to Patch, citing that they cannot speak on the matter since they are on the appeal board. Eckert is out of town until Wednesday, and Mayor Pat Vaughn could not immediately be reached for comment.

Richardson was put on leave after Eckert noticed the possibly illegal sale in 2007 of a Powder Springs police vehicle to the Braswell (GA) Police Department, Vaughn told Patch last month.

Before city items are sold, state law requires that they must first be approved as surplus by the City Council and then be sold at an auction, she said.

The council approved several surplus items, including the police vehicle, in 2007, the mayor said.

But Eckert noticed that Richardson had sold the car for $1,500 directly to Braswell instead of at an auction, Vaughn said.

The Cobb County Sheriff's Office had been handling the investigation.

Richardson’s annual salary is $74,921. He has been police chief since 1994 and has been on the force since the early ‘80s.

Major Mark Weaver has been overseeing the department.