Reed opts to make interim police chief's job permanent

By Bill Rankin and Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In part ceremony, part promotion, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed officially removed the “interim” from George Turner’s title by naming him the new Atlanta Police Chief.

But the interim tag was crucial in Reed’s decision. The mayor said that since he appointed Turner to temporarily hold the office in January, the performance and morale of the police department has been markedly improved.

Overall crime is down 14 percent and violent crimes are down 22.7 percent over the last six months, Reed said.

“We don’t have time to lose,” Reed said at a news conference this morning. “We do not have the luxury of waiting for a new chief to come in and learn about the issues that most concern our residents. Chief Turner knows the city’s neighborhoods and the people who live in them. The results we are seeing suggest we are moving in the right direction and I want to build on the progress we have made. To disrupt that momentum would not be in the best interest of the city.”

Turner, who has been at the APD for 29 years, said his goal is to keep improving the department, making it a model for the country.

“We’ve had tremendous success thus far. We have done a tremendous job over the past six months,” Turner said. “Our goal and mission is to reduce crime and improve the quality of life. This is my hometown and I will work diligently to drive our APD to be the best police department it could be.”

Mayor Kasim Reed has picked a native son of Atlanta who has steadily risen up through the ranks to lead the city’s police force.

At a news conference this morning, Reed will recommend his interim police chief, George Turner, to be the next chief of the Atlanta Police Department. Turner's nomination must be confirmed by the Atlanta City Council.

"What matters to me are results," Reed told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I think you can certainly demonstrate in a powerful fashion that during the time he's been interim chief the results are concrete and undeniable."

Turner was elated after learning the news late Thursday.

“I’m so excited about the opportunity to continue to serve,” Turner said. “I’m just extremely humbled by this chance to serve the citizens of this city and work with the men and women in blue.”

During last year's campaign, Reed made public safety his top priority and said his preference was to hire from within the APD. But he has also said Atlanta candidates had to compete against outsiders in a nationwide search for the city's next “super cop.”

The mayor's office enlisted an executive search firm and appointed a search committee. But when all was said and done, Reed found his chief in Atlanta. In January, the mayor had appeared to give Turner a leg up on any competition when he named him interim police chief.

Turner made the most of the opportunity, Reed said, citing Turner's results while heading the department.

Naming a longtime APD veteran like Turner also sends a good message to the men and women who are recruited to the Atlanta police force, the mayor said. "It tells them one day they'll have the opportunity to lead," he said.

Reed said his search brought "very strong candidates" into consideration. But the mayor noted that every candidate from outside Atlanta told him he would need an initial 90 to 120 days to assess the situation at the APD before presenting an action plan.

Reed said he did not find that unreasonable. "But in my administration, there is an urgency to turning the tide of violence in the city," he said. "We don't have time to wait. We just don't have time for any good candidate to learn this city."

Turner won the recommendation over two other finalists -- Cecil L. Alexander, director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and Robert Crump White, chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky.

Turner, who enjoyed the support of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the city's largest police union, has not acted like a caretaker during his time as interim chief.

On his first full day on the job, Turner shook up the APD’s command structure, reassigning a number of high-ranking officers. He has also gone out of his way to mingle with the rank and file and make appearances in the community. That’s in contrast to former APD Chief Richard Pennington, who was widely criticized at the end of his tenure as being aloof and disengaged.

More recently, Turner persuaded the City Council’s public safety committee to approve a proposal to reinstate the position of captain in the Police Department. Last month, he fired two veteran officers and punished several others for their roles in the 2006 shooting death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in an illegal drug raid. He said the firings signaled that dirty cops had no place in Atlanta.

During the first four months of this year, crime dropped by 14 percent when compared with the same period a year ago, according to FBI-certified crime statistics. This includes a 22 percent decrease in violent crimes and a 12 percent drop in property crimes.

The APD also began an aggressive recruiting campaign, hiring 147 officers in collaboration with the Atlanta Police Foundation during the first six months of 2010. The APD hired just 35 officers during the first six months of 2009 and 80 during the same time period in 2008. In January, according to the APD, the department had more than 100 vacant positions. At the end of June, there were 26 vacancies.

Just last week, when the City Council passed its budget, it approved a 3.2 percent pay hike for police officers and paved the way for the department to hire 100 officers over the next year.

Turner, a Grady baby, grew up in Perry Homes, one of Atlanta’s first housing projects. He attended the city's public schools. His childhood dream was to be a pro football player, and he starred as a cornerback at Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University.

But when no pro teams asked him to sign up, Turner had to find a job. In 1981, he joined the APD and since then has worked his way up through the ranks.

He served as then-Mayor Andrew Young’s driver on a security detail, oversaw the human resources section, headed the recruitment unit and commanded the Zone 1 precinct in northwest Atlanta.

Before being named interim chief, Turner was deputy chief of the APD’s Support Services Division. The job included managing the department’s $160 million budget and overseeing recruitment, training and the APD's troubled communication system.

After being named interim chief, Turner said his priorities were to target gang violence and aggressive panhandlers, hire more officers and continue to improve the APD’s 911 call center.