Seven semifinalists for Wichita police chief chosen

A selection team has chosen seven semifinalists for the Wichita police chief job, City Manager Robert Layton said Wednesday.

Layton said he and a committee of nine residents picked the semifinalists on Tuesday from a pool of 62 applicants. That is almost double the number who applied in an earlier round that ended with no one being appointed.

The city manager said the current process involves “a very talented candidate pool with a significant number of qualified applicants.”

Speaking of the semifinalists, he said: “They all have significant experience in command positions in law enforcement,” and their professional backgrounds “are very diverse.”

Some of the semifinalists are police chiefs now, and the others are in high command positions. All have shown that they understand community policing and the issues that police departments now face, Layton said.

In September, Layton said he was starting over in the search because one finalist, Joel Fitzgerald, an outsider from Pennsylvania, had rejected his offer. Fitzgerald accepted the chief’s job in Fort Worth. The other finalist, Terri Moses, didn’t have the right “skill set,” Layton said, noting that she had spent most of her career in the Wichita Police Department and that he was now focused on getting someone from outside the agency. Layton said he reached that conclusion because of a surprising “commonality” in feedback from Wichita police staff members and the community. The common sentiment, he said then, is that people want “fresh eyes” and a new and different perspective.

On Wednesday, Layton wouldn’t comment on whether he is still likely to pick an outsider.

In the new round, before the semifinalists were chosen, a consultant interviewed a number of the most promising applicants and provided feedback, and the citizens committee reviewed resumes and results of the interviews, Layton said. The committee represents diverse interests in the community, particularly public safety issues, he said.

The plan now is to have remote interviews with the seven semifinalists in the near future, then narrow that number down and bring in the remaining candidates for a more exhaustive review and interview process, Layton said.

His goal is to announce the finalists by the end of the first week in December. He wasn’t sure how many finalists would be named.

As with the previous selection process, the finalists will be interviewed by stakeholder panels and will participate in a public forum. The only difference is that the interview process could be streamlined by combining some of the interviews. Still, Layton said, everyone who got to provide input before will be able do so again.

Layton said he hopes to appoint a new police chief in December.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Seven semifinalists for Wichita police chief chosen."