A decorated veteran with nearly 30 years of experience policing

the streets of Atlanta, Chief Spillane graduated from the Atlanta

police academy as the valedictorian of his class in 1988.

He quickly rose through the ranks, serving in five of the city’s six

precincts and becoming deputy chief in 2013, when he was

appointed to oversee the Atlanta Police Department’s strategic

crime fighting initiatives and ultimately all of Field Operations.

Chief Spillane twice earned the Atlanta Police Department’s

Meritorious Service Medal, the department’s second highest

commendation, once for removing residents from a burning building

and another time for removing a critically wounded man from a

basement for medical attention after a shootout with the police. 

Currently a Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council

(POST) certified Senior Instructor, Spillane is also a former

instructor at the Atlanta Police Academy.  Spillane has earned

multiple certifications from the Georgia Peace Officer Training and

Standards Council, among others.

Chief Spillane is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP), Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a leadership course conducted by Harvard professors in Boston.  Chief Spillane is also a graduate of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE), held in Israel.  He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Saint Leo University in Florida.

Chief Spillane retired from the City of Atlanta in November of 2016 and began his new position as the Chief of Police for Georgia State University.