Columbus mayor nominates new full-time police chief in Tuesday meeting

Correction: This story has been corrected to note that the mayor has nominated a police chief candidate. The council will decide whether to approve the mayor’s nomination in two weeks.

A familiar face could soon take over as the new full-time police chief of the Columbus Police Department.

Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson nominated current interim police chief Stoney Mathis as the city’s next full-time chief during a council meeting Tuesday evening. The council will vote on the appointment in two weeks.

Mathis was hired as the interim chief in May after the council pushed out former chief Freddie Blackmon. Blackmon, whose attorneys threatened to sue the city for racial discrimination, ultimately accepted a $400,000 severance package.

A private study of the CPD under Blackmon raised concerns about low morale, staffing shortages and micromanagement, among other issues. Blackmon, the city’s second Black police chief, was also criticized by the Columbus Fraternal Order of Police.

Blackmon’s supporters said his dismissal was racially motivated.

Mathis has held the position of police chief at the Chattahoochee Hills Police Department and the Fairburn Police Department.

Mathis, a former linebacker and defensive end for Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, started his career with the Monroe (Georgia) Police Department in 1993 before moving to the Henry County Police Department in 1995.

While at Henry County, Mathis became a captain in 2002 and ran a drug task force, was promoted to major in 2005 and was assistant chief in 2010, according to his biography on the Fairburn police website.

Mathis was appointed chief of the Chattahoochee Hills Police Department in 2016 and went to Fairburn in 2018, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.

During his tenure as the police chief in Fairburn from 2018-22 the city saw a 52% reduction in its crime rate, according to Henderson.

What are Mathis’ goals?

“I’m going to come in and raise the level of morale, that’s my goal,” Mathis said at a news conference during his first few days as interim police chief. “Build relationships with the community, that’s my second goal.... My management style is I manage by walking around.”

Since then Mathis has installed multiple new changes to help boost morale within the department.

Mathis recently released his plan of cutting 44 positions from the budgeted amount of around 480 to provide a $5,000 pay raise to each 911 dispatcher and police officer.

Mathis has also made small changes — like getting rid of suspensions for running over curbs in a patrol car or being more than 20 minutes late to work — and is allowing officers to wear hats to boost morale within the department.

“My goal when I first came here was to eliminate everyone leaving,” Mathis told the Ledger-Enquirer. “You can’t make them stay, but what you can do is you can make the work environment so enticing that people feel like they’re part of a family and they don’t want to leave.”

Why does Mathis want the job?

When Mathis first took the job, he said he had no intentions of becoming the full-time chief of the department. What changed his mind?

“I think that I have the aptitude and the personality to continue to make this place better; that’s the only reason I’ve applied,” Mathis said.

Mathis said he didn’t want someone new coming in and changing things when the department had gained some positive momentum.

“It’s an opportunity for me to come into this organization and just help these police officers out, get them back up on their feet, get them where they’re back proud of the police department, proud of the job that they’re doing, show the community that we really do have an opportunity to reduce the crime rate, build the relationships with the community, and this can all be done very quickly,” Mathis said.