Tuesday morning, the City of Bainbridge announced that Bainbridge Public Safety Interim Director Jerry Carter will be retained as the permanent director.

“It feels great to be named the director. My original plan was to stay through September, but after seeing the positive changes we could make for the citizens of Bainbridge, I decided to go for it,” Carter said. “I just hope the next two years are as great as the past few months.”

Carter was named interim director in March after former director Eric Miller resigned.

“Jerry has done a tremendous job as the City’s interim Director, more than meeting the expectations that were established when he was appointed on March 19.  As we began to consider a search for a permanent Director, it became obvious that we already had our man,” Bainbridge City Manager Chris Hobby said in a news release.

Carter has had a long association with the City of Bainbridge, first being employed on May 30, 1977 as a patrolman. Carter eventually rose to the rank of Patrol Commander at BPS before electing to retire September 2014, seemingly ending a 37-year career with the city before being called out of retirement to serve as interim director.

Carter becomes the city’s fourth Public Safety Director following Director James “Jabo” Duke, Director Larry Funderburke and Director Eric Miller. Carter is the first African American to lead the department, which has 53 employees and an annual budget of $3.7 million.