Police chief off Georgia safety board

In October, Deal appointed Bearden, who supported him in his 2010 election, to run the center in Forsyth, near Macon. Each year, thousands of law enforcement and other public safety workers are trained at the center, which has an annual budget of $13 million.

Dekmar questioned Bearden’s qualifications. A former police sergeant in Douglasville, Bearden is a high-school graduate with some college and limited management and training experience, Dekmar said. No college degree is required for the director’s job.

Bearden replaced Dale Mann, who is nationally known and has a master’s degree in criminal law. Mann had been at the center for 23 years, the last eight as director.

“I feel strongly about this; I’m afraid this will take training backwards in Georgia,” said Dekmar. “Training impacts every aspect of law enforcement, from officer safety to technical skills to dealing with the public to liability issues. If the message from the leadership is that qualifications aren’t important, then that sends the wrong message.

“I worry that politics is first, service is secondary,” he added.

Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said Bearden has “the faith and trust of the governor” to revamp the center. He said Bearden will use regional training centers to focus on basic training and the main center in Forsyth will work to become nationally renowned for specialized and advanced training.

Robinson said Deal’s choice was voted on during an open meeting and Dekmar’s move to table the hiring was voted down by the board.

As for Dekmar’s removal, Robinson said, “It’s commonplace for administrations to put their people on boards. It’s new blood, new ideas.”

Bearden, who took over the $125,000-a-year job Nov. 1, said, “The governor has confidence that I can effectively lead the training center. He appoints people he thinks can do the job to provide the best public service training available.”

He noted that he was chairman of the House public safety committee and is well versed in law enforcement. Bearden served on police departments in Villa Rica and Douglasville for 14 years until he was elected to the Legislature in 2004. He was fired from the Douglasville force after the election when city officials said he had a conflict of interest. He sued and a judge ordered him rehired, but he later left the department.

A gun-rights advocate, Bearden is best known for sponsoring legislation allowing permit holders to carry guns on mass transit, in state parks and restaurants where alcohol is served. A judge struck down the provision that allowed guns in some areas of airports.

After his police career, Bearden was hired as a consultant to the Carrollton Police Department and held that job for four years, earning $2,100 a month. The arrangement — which led to a total payment of $92,000 — was criticized by some city council members because there was no contract, no invoices and no written work product.

Carrollton Mayor Wayne Garner said Bearden was hired to go to schools and community groups on behalf of the department. Bearden “is an extremely capable guy and will do well,” Garner said.

“I know the governor has been criticized for putting in friends and supporters,” said Garner. “But being governor is no time to make new friends. You have to rely on trusted people.”

Bearden is one of at least seven current or former legislators who have gotten top state jobs since Deal took office last January.

Bearden publicly supported Deal during his runoff race against Karen Handel and contributed $1,250 to his campaign.

Robinson noted there were 5,000 donors to Deal’s campaign. “We don’t use our donor list as a pool to see who goes on boards,” he said.

Dekmar, a Republican who also contributed $500 to Deal, said, “I get that the governor gets to make his picks. But the governor has to pick qualified people.”

Dekmar has led departments in Morrow and LaGrange for a total 20 years and is president of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a national organization. He was recently appointed to investigate the Canton Police Department’s handling of the much-publicized killing of a 7-year-old girl last month.

The chief has been on the state’s Public Safety board, which oversees the State Patrol and the training center, for eight years and is known for speaking his mind.

Once, former Gov. Sonny Perdue wanted a State Patrol officer on his protection detail to become head of one of the state training academies. But Dekmar opposed the move because the man did not have a college degree, as required.

Perdue backed off the appointment but was irritated, Dekmar said. “I didn’t think he’d reappoint me,” he recalled. “But he did.”

Bearden’s appointment came out of the blue, Mann said.

In October, Mann said, he and other state department heads attended a conference on training. Later, he was summoned to the state capitol where, he thought, he’d be asked for ideas to improve training. Instead, a Deal aide told him he was out.

“You can’t take politics out of politics,” Mann said in an interview. “I probably lasted longer than I thought. I don’t trust politicians and don’t necessarily like politicians. They’d sell the pennies off their mothers’ eyes to give themselves an advantage.

“You need someone like Lou on the board with the moxie to stand up and say, ‘I have a problem with that.’ ”

Bearden’s hiring was approved by all but Dekmar, who told the board he had gotten several calls from law enforcement officers questioning the appointment. He then called the governor’s office to express his views. A few days later, an aide called him to say that Dekmar, the only police chief on the 14-member board, would not be reappointed.

Asked about the lack of discussion in hiring Bearden, Rooney Bowen, a Dooly County probate judge who sits on the board, said, “The administration knows which way it wants to go and we are there to support it.”

Dekmar said he hopes his time on the Public Safety board was well spent. But, he said, “if it’s nothing more than a rubber stamp, I don’t want to be on it.”