The search for the next Durham chief of police could either conclude Wednesday or may have to begin anew, after city officials met Monday and candidate William Carcara dropped out of the selection process.
After a two-hour closed session with the City Council, City Manager Marcia Conner said she will outline her options to council members tomorrow--either naming someone immediately or launching a search that the city staff would conduct internally.
Following last week's resignation by Gregory Watkins, whom Conner named chief earlier this month and who was to take office Sept. 3, only one of the three finalists for the position remained--Carcara, chief of police of the Jefferson County Police Department in Louisville, Ky. But Carcara, also a candidate for the police chief job in Sarasota, Fla., had expressed doubts in whether he would assume the Durham position and is now formally out of the running, Conner said.
"Mr. Carcara and I spoke yesterday and mutually determined that he would no longer be considered for the Durham position," Conner said in a statement. "He indicated that he wanted to complete the search process for the Sarasota position which may come to a close within a week."
Interim Police Chief Steve Chalmers, who had previously been eliminated from the process after a search firm concluded he had untruthfully answered a question concerning arrests and convictions in his past, said he stills wants consideration.
"Even though this selection process has taken many turns, I still have a strong desire to serve the citizens of Durham as police chief," he said in a statement.
Chalmers will continue to serve as interim chief until a new chief is named.
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