DeKalb names interim police chief

Written By: Champion Staff, Andrew Cauthen
11/6/12
Categorized in: Crime, DeKalb News, Government

Interim Police Chief Lisa Gassner

One of the four assistant police chiefs of the DeKalb County Police Department has been named its interim head.

Lisa A. Gassner, assistant chief over the support services division of the police department, was appointed interim police chief, according to Burke Brennan, the county’s chief communications officer.

“She was appointed based on her qualifications and her capabilities,” Brennan said.

Police Chief William O’Brien announced in August that he will retire at the end of November and is currently out of the office using accrued vacation until his retirement’s effective date of Nov. 30.

Gassner was the first female major in the DeKalb County Police Department, serving as the commander of South Precinct, where she once was a rookie. Under O’Brien’s administration, she was promoted to deputy chief and then assistant chief, first commanding the special operations division.

Gassner joined the police department in 1986 and has served in the robbery/homicide unit, narcotics unit and the Strike Force. Gassner was one of the first female officers to make the S.W.A.T. team, where she served as a sniper. She has supervised several divisions, including the criminal investigations division and administrative/technical departments.

“Interim Chief Gassner has served admirably in the DeKalb County Police Department for 28 years, and knows the organization top to bottom,” said DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis. “The department is in good hands as we make a smooth transition to a permanent replacement.”

At least two of the other assistant police chiefs have applied for the top police position, including

D. A. Holmes, who heads the uniform division, and A. Williams, who commands the special operations division. The other assistant chief, M. P. Yarbrough, who is assigned to the criminal investigations division, is in FBI training, Brennan said.

Gassner has not applied for the position, Brennan said.

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Mac, it is not cost prohibitive if reeourcss are managed appropriately. A non-pensioned resource could be trained and hired at $12-$15 an hour to run the set up as it is. This would free up the existing producer for other vital tasks at city hall.Perhaps the Finance Advisory Group could ask for a comprehensive work breakdown study of what staff does. I'm pretty sure what you'll find is widespread misallocation of human reeourcss.As the Elgin presenter attested, public inclusion should be a vital component of any city hall mission. Too often, it's an after-thought.As Herb Rubin talks about above, the task force meeting was held earlier that day. City staff couldn't even be bothered to post that meeting on the city calendar. Mistakes happen, but the sheer volume of instances where these types of oversights occur is staggering as to give the impression that inclusion of the public is a distant after-thought.Comcast customers pay over $500,000 a year in the highest tax rate lawfully provided. That should more than cover the expenses necessary to broadcast every committee meeting which happens in city hall. Instead that pile of cash is used as a slush fund.And even if televising the proceedings was too difficult to accomplish, at the very least, as Herb Rubin points out, couldn't someone flip the switch to turn on the audio system within the chamber. In this day and age, would that be so hard?Time and time again, the public is an after-thought in this city hall. But I'm glad some people are satisfied with first blush excuses.

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