A veteran law enforcement officer has been named acting police chief of Clayton County.
Deputy Chief Michael J. Register will oversee the 600-employee-plus, $34 million department until an interim chief can be found, Clayton Commission Chairman Jeff Turner said Wednesday. Registers assumes the job today.
Register replaces Greg Porter who was reassigned in a controversial decision Monday to head the county’s 911 operation. On Monday, commissioners voted 3-2 to make the 911 a separate operation and assigned Porter to run the 911 operation. Porter served as police chief for five years and views the move as a demotion and a retaliatory strike for having complained about Turner’s efforts to override his authority while police chief.
Turner has denied those allegations, saying Porter is the best person for the job since he was instrumental in the installation of the 911’s new $60 million communications system.
Register was in charge of the police department’s support services command which was responsible for the 911 operation as well as administrative services division and special services division. He had reported to Porter.
Register joined the Clayton police department several years ago with more than 25 years of law enforcement experience and 22 years of military service that included combat operations in Afghanistan.
Prior to coming to Clayton, Register managed a law enforcement centric program at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. That program was responsible for finding individuals and criminal and terrorist organizations. He also has advised the U.S. govenrment and police departments in New York and Los Angeles. He retired as a lieutenant from the Cobb County Police Department in 2005. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Georgia Chiefs Association.
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