The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved the appointment of Randy Crider as the Public Safety Agency Director effective May 12, 2020. Mr. Crider’s career includes over 38 years of experience in Fire Services, most recently serving as Fire Chief since 2014 and Interim Public Safety Director since August 2019.

Prior to joining Cobb County, Chief Crider worked as a firefighter in the City of Douglasville, Georgia for nine years. Since joining Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services in October of 1990, Chief Crider has worked his way through the ranks to his current position as Fire Chief.

In addition to his many years of fire service experience and professional credentials, Chief Crider has an associate degree in Fire Science, a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management and Leadership with a focus on Public Safety, and a Master of Business Administration from Reinhardt University. Chief Crider is a 2014 graduate of Leadership Cobb and a 2016 graduate of Honorary Commanders. He is the former Vice President of District 7 in the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs, past President of the Metro Atlanta Fire Chief’s Association and is a trained mediator.

“Randy Crider has always stepped up,” said District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell. “Especially in this pandemic, he has shown he has the leadership and the skills to carry us forward. As the liaison to public safety I look forward to working with him.”

“I never dreamed 38 years ago when I put on a badge as a firefighter that I’d be where I am today,” Crider said. “I want to thank the folks at fire for the support I’ve had there for almost 30 years. It’s going to be difficult to walk away from that, but I recognize there are some greater needs to bring together many stakeholders to keep Cobb safe.”

“We need someone to take a more global look at the county and I’m happy that is the direction this position needs to go,” said District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott. 

The Cobb County fire department employs 798 paid personnel serving over 750,000 citizens in an area covering 306 square miles. Cobb Fire operates out of 29 fire stations.