The Clayton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to appoint Deputy Chief Michael J. Register interim chief of the police department.
Register, who joined the department last year, is replacing Greg Porter, who was removed by the board as police chief in a controversial move late last month.
The commissioners voted to separate the 911 operation from the police department and make Porter the director of the 60-member operation. The police chief oversees a budget of $34 million and 600 people.
Porter said Tuesday that he intends to retire rather than run the county's 911 operation.
“I’m done,” Porter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
Porter has said that his removal as police chief, a job he held for about five years, was retaliation for him speaking out against commission chairman Jeff Turner’s efforts to take over the police department. Turner has denied that claim.
Porter, who said he has been with the police department for nearly 29 years, was set to become 911 director on July 1.
Register served for 22 years in the United States Army Special Operations/Special Forces and had numerous deployments, the police department said in a news release. He retired from the Cobb County Police Department in 2005.
“I pledge to you that I will always do what I believe to be in the best interest of the person, the department, the county and the community,” Register said in a message to the department. “I want to be held accountable for my actions in the same manner that you are held accountable.”
He will lead the department until the board names a permanent chief.
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