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After 30 years, East Point police chief set to retire

Tommy Gardner, East Point Police chief, is set to retire July 1, 2021. (Courtesy city of East Point)
Tommy Gardner, East Point Police chief, is set to retire July 1, 2021. (Courtesy city of East Point)
By Ben Brasch
June 25, 2021

East Point Police Chief Tommy Gardner is retiring after 33 years of service.

Gardner is set to retire on July 1. City spokeswoman Shannon Wiggins said Friday that no interim chief has been named and the city is still in the hiring process.

Gardner was hired June 13, 1988. He has been chief for seven years, overseeing 170 employees in the city of 35,000 residents, according to his retirement announcement. He served three years in the United States Marine Corps and is now working on a doctoral degree at Restoration Theological Seminary.

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“I am blessed to be in a position where I was able to work around some of the best police officers in the state of Georgia,” Gardner wrote in his announcement.

The Atlanta native thanked city leadership and his wife, to whom his been married 26 years.

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About the Author

Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.

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