Columbus police chief changes timeline for departure, discusses other topics
Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis came to the Columbus Police Department as an interim chief in May 2023 before being named as full-time police chief the following October.
During that time, the department has reached full staffing, base pay for officers has increased, and workplace morale has improved, according to Mathis.
The city has seen reduced Part I crime levels, which include murder, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny and auto theft.
Mathis sat down with the Ledger-Enquirer to discuss his timeline for leaving the department, his takeaways about the department and the city, as well as other topics.
When Stoney Mathis plans to leave Columbus Police Department
Mathis announced in March 2025 he would likely leave the department in 2026. Mathis said his new timeline is “fading out” of the department around January 2027.
“I have been asked by the mayor would I stay on a few months longer as a transition period, and I certainly would be willing to do that,” Mathis said. “I want to make it as easy on the police department and the city as I possibly can.”
When it comes to his successor, Mathis said he thinks Mayor Skip Henderson will work with the mayor-elect after the May 19 election to go through the same process Mathis went through: having an outside company assess the department and get the applications.
Mathis said the mayor wants him to be “very intimately involved in that process.”
“So, between the new mayor, the current mayor and me, select a good candidate that kind of has the same temperament as I have, whether it be internal or external,” Mathis said, “That’s not going to come in and be heavy-handed, but come in and see how things are being operated and kind of follow the same roadmap.”
Mathis said he will be as involved in the process of hiring a new police chief as the mayor will allow him to be, but, if at some point the mayor doesn’t want him involved anymore, he will back away.
When choosing whether to promote someone to chief internally or hire externally, Mathis said it’s best to pick an outside candidate if a department has some “serious internal issues” and promote within if the department is running smoothly.
“Right now, things are running relatively smoothly,” he said. “So, I would really like the mayor and the mayor-elect to focus on some of the internal candidates because you have at least two or three internal candidates that have the temperament to do a wonderful job.”
Mathis wouldn’t divulge any names of who he would like to see as his successor but said he would suggest the mayor “take a good, strong look at a couple of my command staff members.”
What Mathis hopes to accomplish in remaining time at CPD
Mathis said he wants his legacy to be that he was fair, treated people with kindness and the department reduced crime.
When he came to the department, CPD had a four-paragraph mission statement, Mathis said. His mission statement is simple: “Reduce crime and build relationships,” a mission he hopes CPD will continue.
Part of building relationships falls to the CPD Community Policing Unit. Sgt. Katina Williams, a member of that unit, was honored this month with a Georgia House resolution after she was named WRBL 3’s Woman of the Year for helping the homeless population in Columbus.
Mathis said the department didn’t have a community policing unit when he entered the department. When Mathis asked why, he was told CPD didn’t have the personnel to do it.
But after the department increased its hiring, Mathis said, he tasked CPD Deputy Chief Roderick Graham with creating the program.
Mathis partially attributes the city’s lower homicide level this year to the community policing.
The city has had three homicides this year as of April 24, all being domestic in nature, according to Mathis. By April 24 in previous years, the city had 24 homicides in 2023, 14 in 2024, and six in 2025, according to information provided by the Muscogee County Coroner’s office.
Mathis also attributed the lower rate of homicides to proactive policing and officer morale.
Will CPD ask for more officers?
CPD was down to 295 officers in May 2023, the month Mathis came to the department as its interim chief before being named permanent chief in October 2023.
Mathis asked for the total number of budgeted officers to be decreased to be able to increase pay for officers.
Graham told the Ledger-Enquirer in October 2024 CPD saw more people being interested in being a police officer after Mathis asked the council for a $5,000 pay raise for officers.
Data presented in a February 2023 Columbus Council meeting showed the department was budgeted for 472 officer positions. Mathis said the department is right at 400 officers, which he thinks is suitable, citing technology advancements in the department.
“I probably will not be going to council asking for any additional police officers until we get a better assessment of the number of calls that continue and our overall objective,” Mathis said.
Future technological advancements at CPD
Mathis said CPD is in the testing phases of a drone system for the department to have a drone on two or three buildings in the city that can respond to calls within minutes and get a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening at the call’s location before officers arrive.
“We’re selecting the buildings,” he said. “Those drones should be up in the next few months, and so we get a good assessment over the next year of what that program looks like.”
Mathis said he also would like to install more license-plate-reader cameras, which he said help the department solve crime.
Mathis’ plans after CPD
Mathis said he doesn’t have a “100% plan” but has “tapped out” when it comes to his Georgia civil service retirement.
“So, it would be foolish for me to stay in this business for four or five more years and get nothing for it,” he said.
Mathis said he is considering working for a private organization.
“If there’s a private organization, whether in Columbus or Atlanta, that’s looking for someone with my skill set, I would certainly entertain that,” he said.
When asked whether he has a preference for where he ends up, Mathis said, “I’ve fallen in love with Columbus and the people here.”
Mathis said he isn’t opposed to staying in or near Columbus, but most of the opportunities for someone with his skill set would probably be closer to Atlanta, which he said he isn’t opposed to either.
When asked whether he will seek elected office, Mathis said he doesn’t plan to do that yet but he also doesn’t want to take it off the table.
Mathis’ takeaways for CPD, city and mayoral election
Mathis shared key takeaways he has gathered from the police department and the city.
For the police department, Mathis said in his tenure CPD has hired up to full staffing, changed some designs of police cars, changed the hours of shifts for officers and improved morale.
When it comes to the city, Mathis said Columbus moves a little slow for him.
“Some places within the city government have been used to moving very slowly,” he said. “I’m not. I like things done yesterday.”
Mathis said he has struggled with other department heads in the city, specifying none are in the public safety side of the government.
“Just going through things probably more methodically than I would,” he said. “And I’m not saying that they’re wrong or I’m wrong, but they just move a little slower than I do.”
Mathis said a couple of key things for the new mayor are hiring a qualified city manager and hiring a “good, quality police chief.”
Another takeaway, Mathis said, is that Columbus “tends to not want to pay their leaders.”
Mathis said the mayor needs to pick a city manager who can “take the city to the next level,” but he said the city will have to pay more for the position if they want a good city manager.
The city needs to hire a city manager who has the experience to manage a city of this size, Mathis said.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 5:00 AM.