City Manager Robert Layton to renew search for new Wichita police chief (+video)

Wichita is starting over in its search for a police chief.

Wichita City Manager Robert Layton announced Monday that he is re-opening the selection process after one of the two finalists, Joel Fitzgerald, declined the city’s offer.

Feedback he got from Police Department employees and the public is that they want someone with “a fresh set of eyes” and a “new and different perspective,” so he is likely to focus on someone from outside the department, Layton said.

The city manager said he was surprised by how much people seem to want an outsider. The last time the city hired someone from outside the department was 1989.

Layton said although he wants to expedite the new process, it will likely include interview panels and a meeting with the public, where people would get to question the candidate.

Layton said that in the new search, he might focus on “one good candidate” rather than a set of finalists.

The city manager said he offered the job to Fitzgerald “based on his ideas for the department” and on the feedback he got. Fitzgerald, 44, is an outsider and a rising star in police management. He now is police chief in Allentown, Pa., and he spent about 18 years with the Philadelphia Police Department.

But it became clear that Fitzgerald has a “stronger commitment” to the police chief position in Fort Worth, where he is a finalist, Layton said.

Fitzgerald couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

During Monday’s announcement at City Hall, Layton said that he respects the years of service that the other finalist, Terri Moses, has given to law enforcement. He said she has “strong qualifications.” Still, he said, he doesn’t think “her skill set matches what we need in Wichita at this time.”

Moses is a former, long-time deputy chief in the Wichita Police Department so she might not be able to bring a different perspective that employees and the public want, Layton said. She currently is executive director of safety services for the Wichita school district.

Contacted after the announcement, Moses said of Layton’s role: “It’s his decision, and I respect his decision.” Part of that, Moses said, is the determination that the “positives of going outside outweigh the positives of staying inside.”

“In today’s environment, selecting a police chief in a larger organization is … one of the most difficult tasks for a city manager,” and Layton’s effort has been “well-thought-out,” she said.

A third candidate, Gregory Stevens, an assistant police chief in Lubbock, chose to take the top chief job in the Texas city soon after being named a finalist in Wichita.

Layton said the new search will be “aggressive” and that he hopes to hire someone before the end of the year. Within the next month, he hopes to have names of candidates to consider.

“I keep saying I don’t want to rush it, but this is starting to get pretty long,” he said. The whole process, which began with an assessment of the department, has taken about a year.

The city hired the International Association of Chiefs of Police as a recruiter and selection consultant, and candidates were vetted, Layton said.

The city is asking the group to find a new batch of candidates. The cost of a new search is included in the $36,000 contract for recruiting a new chief, Layton said.

Layton said he was disappointed that the process didn’t lead to success in choosing one of the two finalists. The selection process began with more than 30 applicants, from which five semifinalists were eventually chosen. Layton wouldn’t give the names of the two semifinalists who didn’t make the final cut.

The new recruiting effort will probably reach out to people with established positions and the right profile, someone who might not have been a candidate the first time around, he said.

The new police chief will have to deal with some difficult, ongoing issues such as shootings involving officers and racial profiling. The department is working on equipping its officers with body cameras.

The delay in getting a new chief will not keep the department from going through with its body-camera project, Layton said.

The department currently is being led by Nelson Mosley, who has served in an interim role since Norman Williams retired a year ago after a 14-year tenure. Mosely is not a candidate for the chief position, Layton said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 10:09 AM with the headline "City Manager Robert Layton to renew search for new Wichita police chief (+video)."