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Reed Announces Erika Shields as New Atlanta Police Chief

December 1st, 2016

A new police chief has been named for the city of Atlanta.

Mayor Kasim Reed announced Thursday that deputy chief Erika Shields was appointed the position as the city’s 24th police chief. She is replacing George Turner, who is retiring.

Shields will start Dec. 28.

She is a 21-year-old veteran of the Atlanta Police Department serving as patrol officer, sergeant, lieutenant, major and deputy chief of the Field Operations Division.

Turner stepped down Wednesday after 35 years with the police department. He spent six years as police chief leading the effort in the decrease of crime in Atlanta.

But the police department has still fallen under criticism in other areas during Turner’s tenure such as their inability to recruit new officers and officer’s lack of pay to meet the city’s rising housing costs.