Presented By Chief Darin Schierbaum, Atlanta Police Department
Darin B. Schierbaum was appointed to be the 26th Chief of the Atlanta Police Department by Mayor Andre Dickens in October 2022.
A native of southern Illinois, Chief Schierbaum joined the Atlanta Police Department in 2002 after ten years with the Johnson County Illinois Sheriff’s Department. Upon graduating as class valedictorian of Academy Class 180 he was assigned to Zone 5 where he held several assignments including Beat Officer in the Midtown neighborhood, plainclothes detail officer, and a member of the HOPE/Crises Intervention Team. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2007 and served in Zone 6 as a sector Sergeant on the Evening Watch. As a Sergeant, he would later supervise the Zone 5 Burglary/Larceny Unit which successfully lowered the number of burglaries occurring within the downtown and midtown areas.
Following his promotion to Lieutenant in 2009, he commanded the Zone 6 Morning Watch, Evening Watch, and later Field Investigative Team before being assigned to the newly formed Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS). While at COPS he commanded the Community Liaison Unit, LGBT Liaison Unit, Hispanic Liaison Unit, and the Graffiti Abatement Unit.
He was promoted to Captain in 2013 and assigned as the Assistant Commander of the Communication Section where he oversaw operations of the 911 Center which answers more than 1.1 million 911 calls annually and provides all dispatch services for the Police and Fire Departments. While assigned to the Communications Section the team was responsible for achieving maximum compliance during the Insurance Services Office (ISO) communications center assessment which was instrumental in the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department obtaining an ISO Class 1 rating – the highest rating awarded and a rating held by only 136 communities our of 48,000 nationwide.
In January of 2015, he was promoted to Major and assigned to the Special Enforcement Section which was comprised of units that carry out the Department's mission to combat illegal drug sales, counter-terrorism investigations, violent crime trends, repeat offender federal prosecutions, joint APD/FBI gang investigations, and joint APD/ATF gun crime investigations. During this time the department joined with the US Attorney’s Office to launch a Drug Market Intervention in the English Avenue community. This initiative combated the engrained open-air drug markets laying the groundwork for the revitalization of English Avenue which is now home to an Atlanta Police Foundation @Promise Center, APD Recruit Housing, and several homes for APD officers.
In August of 2015, he was assigned to the Training Section overseeing all recruit, in-service, and specialized training for the department. While training commander, he and the training staff began implementing recommendations from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
These progressive reform measures were implemented in both recruit and in-service curriculum, earning recognition from the US Department of Justice. As part of these initiatives, 40-hours of Crises Intervention Team (CIT) training was added to recruit mandate training as well as adopting Fair and Impartial Policing curriculum. Training partnerships were formed with the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta Citizens Review Boards, LGBT, faith-based, and youth communities. While assigned to the training section he oversaw the expansion of reality-based training programs, mental health programming for sworn and professional staff, implementation of the Tactical Field Operator program as well the preparedness initiatives for the Bicycle Response Team and the Mobile Field Force.
In August of 2017, he was assigned to Zone 5 as the Section Commander, responsible for 911 patrol units, investigations, proactive crime fighting and community engagement in the downtown and Midtown communities. During this time Zone 5 hosted the 2018 College Football National Championship Game, 2018 MLS Cup, and Super Bowl LIII in 2019. Zone 5 also hosted annually the Gay Pride Parade and celebrations, Black Gay Pride, DragonCon, Christmas Parade, St. Patrick’s Parade as well as many sporting and entertainment events at State Farm Arena and Mercedes Benz Stadium. Working collaboratively with the community, the officers and investigators of Zone 5 were successful in reducing overall crime in Zone 5 by 5% even as the Zone saw substantial growth.
In March of 2020, he was promoted to Deputy Chief and assigned to the Strategy and Special Projects Division. Housed in this Division is the Program Management Unit, Planning and Research/Accreditation Unit, Retired Reserves Unit, Tactical Crime Analysis Unit, Atlanta Police Leadership Unit, Open Records Unit, Overtime/Use of Force Tracking, and the Atlanta Police Historical Society.
He was advanced to Assistant Chief in 2022, and in June 2022, Mayor Dickens appointed him to serve as Interim Chief following the retirement of Chief Rodney Bryant.
Chief Schierbaum holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Herzing University and a master’s degree from Columbus State University in Public Safety Administration. He is a graduate of Atlanta Police Leadership Institute - Tier 5, Police Executive Research Forum - Senior Management Institute for Police (Session 76). He is a certified POST instructor for the State of Georgia as well as a certified Crises Intervention Team and Fair and Impartial Policing instructor. Chief Schierbaum is a resident of the Midtown community and enjoys spending his off time at bookstores and exploring historically significant sites in and around the city.