Hartwell Hires New Police Chief and Assistant Police Chief

The City of Hartwell has hired a new police chief.

At a recent Hartwell City Council meeting on November 4, the board voted to hire Hartwell Police Captain Anthony “AD” Davis.  The vote was unanimous and came at the recommendation of City Manager David Aldrich.

Davis replaces Chief Cecil Reno, who will retire at the end of December with more than 35 years of service on the Hartwell Police Force as its chief. Reno is the longest serving police chief in the State of Georgia.

When deciding  how to approach the search for a new police chief, Aldrich said the more he thought about what he was looking for in a police chief, the more he realized he had a number of very qualified, experienced candidates inside the police department.  One of those candidates was Davis who had already expressed an interest in the job.

“When I started thinking about what I’d be looking for in a new police chief,  I started thinking about who I have in-house and we do have a policy that we try to promote from within when the opportunity presents itself,” Aldrich said.

Davis has been with the Hartwell Police Department for 25 years, 21 of those as an investigator and now as the head of Investigations.

Davis will be Hartwell’s first ever African-American Police Chief.  In 2009, tensions in Hartwell between the Hartwell Police and the black community ran high when a Hartwell Police officer beat a black man, Jimmy Lee Blackwell as he was walking home, when Blackwell resisted arrest. Blackwell was in intensive care for days in Greenville and eventually lost an eye from the beating.  The officer was later cleared of any wrong doing, but the incident sparked marches and town hall meetings between police and black citizens who claimed the beating was racially motivated.

But Davis said Monday he doesn’t see a color barrier in Hartwell and he hopes to develop a greater communication with all of the citizens of Hartwell when he takes office.

“I’m going to try to have a good relationship with citizens,” he said. “Being out in the field as an investigator for 21 years, I’ve talked to everybody and the people know me. So, I’m going to enjoy it. I enjoy being out in the community. We’ve got some fine officers and we’ve got some fine citizens in the City of Hartwell.”

Davis said once he takes office, he plans to make some changes within the department, but he would not elaborate.

Davis has worked under Police Chief Cecil Reno his entire career on the Hartwell Police Force.

“He’s my mentor,” Davis said. “He gave me a job when I came to him 25 years ago and I have nothing but admiration and respect for him.” 

In addition to Davis, the City Council last week also approved the creation of a new position, Assistant Police Chief.  The council then voted unanimously to hire Hartwell Police Captain Stan Sayers for that position.

Sayers has been on the force for 10 years and said he looks forward to his new role as Assistant Police Chief.

“I’m excited and I’m looking forward to working closely with A.D.,” Sayers said.

Aldrich said he recommended the Assistant Police Chief position and sees it as a positive step.

“Stan has been with the city for many years and has done an exceptional job,” Aldrich said. “So, it made a lot of sense, not only to help Anthony but when A.D. retires, we’ll have almost a Chief-in-Waiting.”

Davis and Sayers will soon begin their training at Chiefs School, which is conducted by the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.

Both are expected to take office January 1st.