Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum had a clear message for those targeting children in the city.
“We are serving because we are in a battle for the future and the soul of our young people, our children,” Schierbaum said Wednesday during a swearing-in ceremony held at Atlanta City Hall. “The gangs cannot and will not steal the souls of our children. We will fight.”
The ceremony officially instituted Schierbaum as the city’s 26th police chief, a role he’s held in an interim capacity since June following the retirement of Rodney Bryant. Schierbaum expressed gratitude and said he was humbled to be appointed, adding that the work has just begun.
“The torch that is handed to us as leaders of the Atlanta Police Department is one that can easily be extinguished if we lose the community’s trust,” he said. “I take that torch tonight, not lightly, knowing I have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the Atlanta Police Department.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Schierbaum, a 20-year department veteran, was announced as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ choice as chief after a five-month nationwide search. Describing him as data-driven and with a similar style of leadership to his own, Dickens said he feels that Schierbaum is the right person at the right time to lead the police department, Georgia’s largest law enforcement agency.
During his speech, the mayor said he realized “the leader we wanted had been with us all along.”
“After working with him for several months, I got to see how capable he was and the love and respect he had from all the members of the community and the men and women of the Atlanta Police Department,” Dickens told The Atlanta Journal Constitution after the ceremony.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Dickens made the right choice in Schierbaum and said her office is excited to continue to work with the police department to fight gangs and crime.
Other elected officials, including city council members, state legislators and law enforcement officials from across the metro area and state were present at the ceremony.
For the upcoming year, Schierbaum told the AJC he wants to grow the size of the department and build the community’s trust by working with every neighborhood and constituency in the city.
Schierbaum said there is “no higher honor” than to be the chief of police.
“It’s humbling. It’s not lost on me the importance of this position. There are a lot of great men and women who serve the city in the Atlanta Police Department, and I want to make sure I represent them well,” he said.
