City hires Capt. Shane Edmisten as police chief

Monday night, the Douglas city commission hired Capt. Shane Edmisten of the Suwannee (Ga.) Police Department as the new chief of the Douglas Police Department.

Assistant chief Brannen Pruette had served as interim police chief since Gary Casteloes retired last summer. Pruette had also applied for the chief of police position.

Originally, the city selected five applicants to interview for the position: Edmisten, Pruette, Broxton police chief Scott Harper, Robert K. Ellison (an officer with the Milton Police Department), and Calvin Troy (former chief of the Quitman Police Department).

An interview panel comprised of city department heads interviewed all five candidates several weeks ago. The panel submitted its top two candidates to the commission at last week’s regular meeting. Instead of interviewing the two candidates the panel recommended, the commission decided – at the requests of Commissioners Olivia Pearson and Kentaiwon Durham – to interview all five again.

The commission convened last night to conduct the interviews. Only five showed up; Ellison did not return for the second round of interviews. After conducting the interviews in executive session, the commission met in an open meeting and made the announcement. Commissioner Pearson made the motion to hire Edmisten while Commissioner Durham seconded. Commissioners voted 5-1 to hire Edmisten; Commissioner Bob Moore cast the lone dissenting vote.

Edmisten has worked with the Suwanee Police Department since August of 1994. Prior to that, he worked with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office in Gainesville, Ga. He graduated from North Gwinnett High School and then obtained a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Phoenix. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from Columbus State University. He served as captain of the Suwanee PD since 2017.

The city has not announced when Edmisten will start working. However, he is expected to report to work soon.