Athens-Clarke Co Police Chief announces retirement

Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill as calling it a career, retiring after three years as the top cop in Athens. Athens-Clarke County Manager Blaine Williams says he will name an interim replacement and begin a national search for Spruill’s successor.

From the Athens-Clarke County government website…

Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill has announced his retirement from law enforcement and resignation as Police Chief as of March 10, 2022. He was appointed to the position by Manager Blaine Williams in February 2019.

“This decision is not made lightly,” says Spruill. “It has been a privilege to work with the Athens-Clarke County community and the fine men and women of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. However, I have decided to end my law enforcement career and move home to Maryland to spend time enjoying retirement with family and friends.”

“I am extremely grateful to Chief Spruill for his leadership in guiding our Police Department through extraordinarily challenging times,” says Williams. “He has supported and developed both his sworn and non-sworn public servants, as well as to make real and lasting connections with residents and community stakeholders. I believe he has accomplished the Athenian threshold in leaving the Police Department in a better state than when he found it. The work behind that is tremendous.”

Among other accomplishments during his time with ACCGov, Spruill has guided a department that helped maintain and reduced overall crime rates, expanded the department’s take-home vehicle program, reinstituted a canine program, brought the department into compliance with the recommendations of the President’s Task Report on 21st Century Policing, led an effort that resulted in a new public safety pay plan, and improved transparency and community engagement on Police initiatives.

“Despite the challenges of the last three years,” says Spruill, “the Athens-Clarke County Police Department is left better equipped, better trained, and better prepared than when I arrived in 2019. I am thankful to Athens-Clarke County and Manager Blaine Williams for allowing me the opportunity to serve as this community’s Police Chief.”

Spruill retires with nearly 35 years of professional law enforcement experience in Alexandria, Virginia, Huntersville, North Carolina, and Athens-Clarke County. An Army veteran, he is a graduate of the 217th Session of the FBI National Academy and also completed the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police.

Williams will appoint an Interim Police Chief in the coming weeks until a permanent replacement is named after a national search.

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