EXCLUSIVE: Georgia Public Safety Commissioner steps down, discusses time leading, agency needs

ATLANTA — Retiring Georgia Public Safety Commissioner Chris Wright spoke exclusively to Channel 2 Action News about his time in office.

His retirement brings an end to a nearly 30-year-long career in law enforcement.

Col. Wright, speaking with Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne, said he knew right away when he took the helm of the Georgia State Patrol, Motor Carrier Compliance Division and Capitol Police, that he was coming in amid COVID and a spike in crime in the city, as well as elsewhere and that there would be challenges.

He said he started in the head role at a pivotal time for the agency, and Gov. Brian Kemp asked him to come up with a plan.

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“We put together the crime suppression unit at his direction. It was his baby, it was his brainchild, it was his idea,” Wright said. “And we’ve seen some tremendous success.”

Wright said the men and women on the crime suppression details have arrested roughly 900 wanted people.

“They’ve apprehended like 38 murder suspects, they’ve recovered 700 stolen vehicles,” Wright told Channel 2 Action News.

The retiring commissioner entered the office in an era of civil unrest, to which he says the state patrol played a major role responding to, including eventually in the area of the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

When he started, Wright said he came in wanting to get to the bottom of an alleged trooper school cheating scandal that turned out not to be.

“We got it resolved the right way, and that was important to me because a lot of kids’ lives were affected,” he said.

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Wright said the GSP worked with the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, Post, who investigated. Of the 32 recruits who had been dismissed, all but one were cleared of cheating, and 19 went on to become troopers.

“I’ve been blessed with my career, I started out as a radio operator, I’ve been the first commissioner to hold every single rank within the agency,” Wright told Channel 2 Action News.

Perhaps his unique history in law enforcement gives him unique credentials on what the state patrol needs in the future, he started in the radio operator position in 1995.

While he says he’s grateful that his officers have gotten a combined $11,000 in raises over the past two years, accounting for increased competition for a dwindling number of applicants means the pay needs to continue to increase.

The retiring commissioner also said the newest retirement plan doesn’t do enough for employees, nor for keeping good people on staff.

“The current 401K retirement plan does not anchor people, after five years they can pay into that 401K retirement system and they can take it anywhere with them,” Wright said.

Wright credited the governor for supporting efforts to move out of an aged public safety headquarters, where the water had been unsafe for decades, and into a gleaming new state-of-the-art building, which opened recently.

He said his second interview with Kemp for the commissioner job was when he brought up the man with whom he’s been in a relationship for more than 20 years.

“I shared with him that I had a partner and I did not want that to be an issue for him and an issue for the organization, and he looked at me and he said ‘I already knew that. That’s not an issue for me,’” Wright said. “It was a very defining moment for me in how I felt that the state, and state government, we were really turning a page.”

Wright said the state of Georgia is diverse and is full of opportunities for people, “no matter who you are,” and no matter what your background is, “as long as you were willing to roll up your sleeves, work hard, have integrity, and do the right thing,” you’ll succeed.

The now-former commissioner said he believes a good leader prepares someone to take his place, and he’s happy that some of the people who helped him succeed as commissioner are now moving up as a result of his retirement.

Wright’s successor, William Hitchens III, takes office as the new commissioner on Sunday.

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