Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington’s right-hand man, assistant police Chief Alan Dreher, is on the short list of three finalist candidates for the position of police chief in Charlotte.
Dreher, who was brought to the Atlanta department by Pennington in 2002 from Washington, D.C., became a finalist from a pool of 47 applicants for the Charlotte job. That department has a $174 million budget and 2,100 employees.
Dreher said he did not seek out the Charlotte position but was contacted by recruiters seeking to replace the present Charlotte police chief who is retiring. The new chief will be named before June 1.
Dreher actually worked at the D.C. Metro Police Department with one of the other finalists for the job, Rodney Monroe, chief of the police department in Richmond, Virginia. Dreher and Pennington also worked together at the D.C. department for 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s.
As the second in command in Atlanta, Dreher oversees day-to-day operations and supervises three deputy chiefs.