Atlanta Names New Police Chief

By RANDY GRIDER
randy@casscountynow.com

The Atlanta City Council Monday night unanimously approved City Manager David Cockrell’s appointment of retired Texas Ranger Jay Womack as the new police chief.
Womack replaces longtime Atlanta Police Chief Mike Dupree, who passed away April 15 after a short, but courageous, battle with cancer.
Cockrell said the city received 20 applicants from four states, but, “Womack’s resume stood out as the clear favorite.”
Womack’s law enforcement career started in 1986 at the Dallas Police Department. He served seven years with the Texas Department of Public Safety as a trooper and narcotics investigator.
Womack also served a brief stint with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in the New York City Field Division.
In 2003, he returned to the Texas DPS and served as the Texas Ranger assigned to the Texarkana office. Womack retired from the Rangers this past November. He ran for Bowie County sheriff, but lost in the March primary.
Womack, who was born in Magee, Miss., and holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from the University of Mississippi and a Masters Peace Office license from the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement, said his goals as chief are simple.
“I want to make sure the citizens here get the best police protection that they’ve always received,” Womack said. “We will also work with other police departments in the area.”
Womack said shortly before officially meeting the Atlanta police officers as their new chief following the council meeting, he is excited.
“I already know several of the police officers here from all the years working in this area,” Womack said. “I look forward to coming down here and working with them.
Womack, 52, currently lives in Texarkana. His wife is a flight attendant with United Airlines and they have a 9-year-old daughter.
“Chief Womack brings a tremendous amount of experience to the Atlanta PD,” Cockrell said. “He was one of the finest, most respected law enforcement officers in the region. We’re excited to have him onboard and look forward to great things in the future.