Richard Pennington
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Richard Pennington (born 1947, Little Rock, Arkansas) is a former police chief of New Orleans, Louisiana (1994-2002) and is the current police chief of Atlanta, Georgia (since 2002).
Pennington grew up in Gary, Indiana. He began his career in law enforcement in 1968 as a police officer in Washington, D.C., where he was eventually promoted to Assistant Chief. In 1994, he was hired as police chief in New Orleans, and was credited with major improvements in what had been a poorly-regarded and corruption-ridden police department.
Pennington was a candidate in the New Orleans mayoral election, 2002. Although he led in most pre-election polls, he finished second to Ray Nagin in the first round of voting, and lost the runoff election to Nagin by a margin of 59% - 41%. Shortly thereafter, he resigned as New Orleans police chief. In July 2002, he was hired as the chief in Atlanta.
Pennington earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from American University and a master's degree in counseling from the University of the District of Columbia.
