Shirley Franklin praises her former police chief, Richard Pennington
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, reflecting on her first big hire as mayor, called Richard Pennington a “great leader,” who was “determined to improve the Atlanta Police Department.
“He led the APD to expand officer training, to gain national accreditation, to launch the Atlanta Police Foundation, to access the root causes of crime, to realign resources and the precincts, to build the state of the art Atlanta Police and Fire Department headquarters, to launch COBRA and to promote fair and just treatment of Atlanta's residents,” Franklin said. “Richard was a great leader among leaders in the fields of law enforcement and public administration. I am honored to have served as mayor with him as Police Chief.”
Richard Pennington, who served throughout the Franklin administration, died Thursday. He was 70.
Pennington, who came to Atlanta in 2002 after leading the New Orleans police department, left the department in 2010 after Franklin left office.
During his tenure, Pennington was credited with a drop in Atlanta’s crime.
When he took over in July 2002, Atlanta was ranked the nation’s third-most violent city. By the time he left, it ranked 18th.
In June of 2010 Pennington was admitted to the Shepherd Center for rehabilitation after suffering a stroke on Memorial Day.
After his stroke, Pennington made few public appearances.
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Read and sign the online guestbook for Police Chief Richard Pennington
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
