Gary Yandura has been hired to be Brookhaven’s first police chief, as the new DeKalb County city pushes forward with its plans to provide police protection.
Yandura, who has served as police chief in Hiram and College Park, will be tasked with building Brookhaven’s new police department, city leaders announced Tuesday.
“Today is a historic day because it is the start of Brookhaven becoming a safer community,” said Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis.
Yandura is a graduate of the FBI Academy and certified by the Georgia Police Officers Standards and Training Council. He has a master’s in public administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Illinois. He has spent 38 years in law enforcement.
Yandura was selected among 98 applications from around the nation. Brookhaven, which has an intergovernmental agreement with DeKalb County to provide police services, expects to have officers on the road by the end of summer.
Yandura’s first day on the job is April 15.
“My first task will be to assess the community’s needs and determine the number of officers needed to protect and serve the city,” Yandura said.
