Gwinnett approves contract for next police chief

Gwinnett officials approved Tuesday the contract for the county’s next police chief.

Tom Doran will take over next month for retiring Gwinnett County Police Department Chief Butch Ayers. Doran began his career with GCPD in 1993, is an 18-year veteran of the SWAT team and currently serves as an assistant chief over the department’s operations bureau.

Doran’s new contract includes a base salary of $182,000. He is making around $145,000 in his current position.

Soon-to-be Gwinnett police Chief Tom Doran. (Courtesy: Gwinnett County)

Ayers has been with the department for 35 years and took over as chief in 2014. He will step down Nov. 15.

“You have big shoes to fill,” Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash told Doran on Tuesday. “But I know that you’re going to do a great job.”

Doran will be the fifth consecutive Gwinnett chief to rise through the ranks after starting with the department as an officer.

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