Mableton City Council is set to vote Tuesday night on the appointment of the city's first police chief, a milestone in the young city's push to build its own public safety department from the ground up. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Riverside Epicenter, with Mayor Michael Owens and Dr. Anthony Kerry Stallings, the city's public safety director, both expected to attend.
Stallings has been at the center of Mableton's police buildout since the council appointed him as the city's inaugural public safety director in August, according to CBS News Atlanta. Accounts of that vote differ: Atlanta News First reported the council approved his appointment 5-1, while the Cobb County Courier later described a separate council vote on his interim police chief designation as unanimous. A notice posted by the city itself lists the appointment date as August 25, while multiple news reports put it a day later, on August 26.
As public safety director, Stallings is responsible for overseeing the creation and administration of Mableton's entire public safety framework, not just the police department but also emergency management, code enforcement and related operations, the Courier reported. A council agenda item in September proposed designating him interim police chief simultaneously, a move the resolution described as a continuity measure rather than a conclusion to the search for a permanent chief, per the same outlet.
Why the City Needs Its Own Equipment and Firearms
Stallings has said the interim designation matters practically: it allows him to purchase vehicles and firearms the city needs to stand up its own department, according to the Courier's reporting. He is also involved, alongside the council, in recruiting a permanent chief, though he has not disclosed a timeline for that hire, the outlet noted.
Before coming to Mableton, Stallings worked with the Dunwoody Police Department during its early formation and served with the Powder Springs Police Department, according to WSB-TV. He also served as chief of police for the University System of Georgia, where he led safety operations across 24 departments, the Courier reported. The city had posted an opening in July for what it called an innovative, visionary, and community-focused law enforcement executive to serve as its inaugural police chief, according to a listing from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
A $21 Million Annual Price Tag
The new public safety division is expected to be funded through a dedicated 4.5 millage rate projected to generate $21 million per year, Atlanta News First reported. Under that rate, the owner of a $350,000 home in Mableton would pay roughly $630 annually, or just over $50 a month, toward the new police force, according to WSB-TV. The city is targeting June 1, 2027, for a full transition, with staffing, hiring, training, vehicles, technology and facilities work already underway, per a Mableton city government page, though the exact launch date, size and structure of the future department have not been fully confirmed.
The push for an independent department follows the May 31 expiration of Mableton's police services agreement with Cobb County, after mediation broke down over a longer-term policing arrangement, per CBS News Atlanta. Cobb County officers kept patrolling the city and responding to 911 calls even after the agreement lapsed, the station reported. The following month, the two sides signed a new one-year intergovernmental agreement, effective in mid-June, intended to keep police protection uninterrupted while Mableton builds its own department, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
That agreement also protects Mableton's authority over several local government functions, CBS News Atlanta reported, and city leaders have said they are preparing to stand up their own public safety division while assuring residents that emergency services will continue without interruption. Fox 5 Atlanta noted that officials had not yet confirmed the exact date the city's independent police department would launch. Tuesday's vote on a first permanent chief marks another concrete step toward that goal, even as key details about the department's eventual size and staffing remain unresolved.
