Long-time Leesburg Police Chief Lanny Ransum, will be retiring from that position effective Tuesday, November 1st citing medical reasons. A reception was held in his honor on Thursday afternoon at the Community Center in Leesburg.

Ransum stated in his retirement letter addressed to Leesburg Mayor Brandy Pierce and the Town Council, he is suffering medical complications due to a workman’s comp injury from 2008 – and in light of that, has chosen to retire to work on his health issues in consideration of his family.  He is currently recovering from his third Achilles Tendon surgery.  Ransum closes the letter, by saying that he will be available to help in the selection of a new police chief if called upon to do so and added that he appreciated the opportunity to serve as the Police Chief of the town.

We spoke with Ransum following the announcement and he gave us a brief rundown on his law enforcement career in Cherokee County, which started right out of high school when he went to work with the Sheriff’s Office as a Dispatcher and a Jailer; he also worked part-time with the Cedar Bluff Police Department.  He was later promoted to full-time status, with the County, on the night of the Palm Sunday tornado.

Ransum went to work for the Leesburg PD in October of ’96 as a Patrol Officer later acting as Investigator and spending time in the Narcotics Division.  He additionally worked as Bad Check Investigator with the DA’s Office. 

Ransum moved up to the position of Leesburg Police Chief in 2007.

He told WEIS Radio that over his career he’s seen a lot and dealt with a lot of situations that were hard to come to terms with. Ransum summed things up by saying that, as he comes to the end of his career in law enforcement, his hope is that he has in some way helped to save lives either through the arrest of people that would harm others or convincing others to get help and stay off drugs.