ATLANTA — Mayor Andre Dickens announced Tuesday that Darin Schierbaum would be the interim chief of the Atlanta Police Department.
Dickens made the announcement at a press conference laying out the city's summer plan for managing crime. Chief Rodney Bryant announced in April that he would be retiring - his second retirement from the force, after former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms asked him to return to lead the force following the resignation of Erika Shields amid the tumult of the summer of 2020.
Schierbaum is currently the APD assistant chief of police. He's been with the department since 2002.
Mayor Dickens said Schierbaum has "the credentials and the experience, but perhaps most importantly he has the trust of his peers and the trust throughout the community of Atlanta, and he has a deep love for our city."
Schierbaum has served in several roles advancing through the department, including as a training commander who oversaw APD efforts to implement the Obama administration's 21st Century Policing reform recommendations.
Dickens also highlighted Schierbaum's roles as a community liaison while with the Community Oriented Policing Section - specifically, as an LGBTQ community liaison and Hispanic community liaison.
Schierbaum thanked Dickens for his trust and said it was "an honor and humbling to be serving the men and women of this great police department."
He also thanked Bryant, saying he "stepped in at a most uncertain time in our profession, when we saw events transpiring across the country we've never seen before."
"Stepping in at a rocky time, he not once allowed an excuse to form for collaborative policing, smart policing and taking care of our officers," the interim chief said of Bryant.
The current chief is set to step away some time in June.
Schierbaum is a Midtown resident with a master's in public safety administration from Columbus State University, according to his APD bio.
A search is underway for a permanent chief.
"I'm looking for a chief that knows Atlanta, that loves Atlanta, that understands the police force that’s here but is also looking for any new innovative solutions to get ahead of this crime, and to get out there and do this 21st century (community) policing that we want to do," Dickens said in April.