The Cullman City Council has officially named Lieutenant David Nassetta as chief of the Cullman Police Department.

The council’s decision follows the announcement from Kenny Culpepper that he would be stepping away from the chief’s position after holding the title for 34 years.

“I’ve just been very fortunate and blessed to be in a good community and have good people and bosses,” he previously told the council. “I was trying to remember how many council meetings I have been to. I couldn’t really remember them all, but a couple of them really stand out,” he added, sharing a humorous anecdote or two from sticky enforcement situations that arose during meetings past.

While the council did not immediately name a successor following Culpepper’s announcement last month, Nassetta’s status of Assistant Police Chief earned him the nomination of Interim Police Chief upon Culpepper’s retirement and made him a likely candidate to fill the vacancy left by Culpepper on December 1.

Nassetta began his career with CPD 23 years ago as a reserve officer and moved quickly into a full-time position as a patrol officer just one year later. Throughout the course of his career he has been a member of the investigations department, narcotics agency, the tactical unit and served as the Full Time Task Officer for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division for five years.

In 2014 Nassetta was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and then to Lieutenant in 2018.

Before being sworn in Monday night, Nassetta told The Times that the decades long legacy left behind by Culpepper made him nervous at first, but that he was also eager to begin developing his own legacy as chief.

“I was a little apprehensive at first about taking on the position when somebody like Chief Culpepper stepped down, but over the years I’ve sort of developed some of my own strategies and ideas, and I’m also eager to begin implementing some of those,” Nassetta said. “I’m just so tickled to have the opportunity to serve my hometown. I’ve grown up here and invested so much into it. I would also like to say that the amount of support I have gotten has been overwhelming. The community, the guys in the department, the council, everybody has been great and it’s made for a really smooth transition so far.”