Michael Register, the former police chief of Clayton County, was approved and sworn in as the new Cobb County police chief yesterday at the regular Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting.  He was sworn in by Cobb Director of Public Safety Sam Heaton, and his badge was pinned by his wife Keisha.

Sam Heaton swears in Michael Register as Cobb police chief — photo by Larry Felton Johnson

Register worked at the Cobb County Police Department from 1986 to 2005, serving in a number of posts, including assistant SWAT and tactical commander.

According to a press release from Cobb County,

Register has also managed a law enforcement, operational and intelligence program at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and serves on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force Executive Board, the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Legislative Committee as co-chair and is a board member for Safe America. He also served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for 22 years, including combat operations in Afghanistan.

Register is working on his doctoral dissertation in public administration and policy, with an emphasis in terrorism and conflict analysis and resolution. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from Columbus State University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting and international finance from Liberty University. Register also attended Northwestern University’s nationally-recognized Police Staff and Command School and the Georgia Command College. He is an adjunct professor at Columbus State in the areas of strategic planning, management and leadership.

The swearing-in was held after Register’s appointment was approved in a 4-1 vote by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.  District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott cast the sole opposition vote.

Michael Register with Cobb County commissioners at his swearing-in — photo by Larry Felton Johnson

Ben Williams of the Cobb County chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization, said before the commissioners voted,

I’m pleased to report that a number of us did have an opportunity yesterday.  We spent about two-and-a-half hours with the finalist (Register).  And I think that it’s fair to say that we left that setting with a sense that the finalist that we consider today is the right person for this job at this time.  I heard awhile back, that zoning decisions are really important because it’s not for this year or next year, but it has a generational effect.  I believe that was you, Commissioner Cupid …  I do not expect to be back here a year from now, or two years from now, and we are talking about hiring another police chief … He deserves every opportunity to be successful.