Donald Green, Ron Hodge and Jose Lopez are in the running for the position of Durham police chief, City Manager Patrick Baker announced Friday.
Green, a deputy police chief in Knoxville, Tenn., Hodge, deputy police chief of the Durham Police Department, and Lopez, assistant police chief of the Hartford Police Department in Connecticut, will attend a public forum next Tuesday to answer questions submitted by Durham citizens.
"I am thoroughly impressed with the solid experience of these finalists," Baker said in a statement. "They meet the criteria and qualities I had in mind for the next chief, including having risen through the ranks at a similar-size police department, holding positions that allowed them to develop strong field and management experience, combined with an appreciation for strong community relations."
Baker plans to make a decision in July and hopes to have the new chief in office by early fall, said Amy Blalock, public affairs specialist at Durham's Office of Public Affairs.
Current Chief Steven Chalmers will retire at the end of this year after working with the department since 1975 and serving as chief since 2002.
"The public forum is an opportunity for citizens to ask the candidates questions," Blalock said. "It's the public's chance to ask any question they wish."
The candidates were chosen from a pool of five applicants by Baker, following a round of interviews two weeks ago with Baker, deputy city managers and a selection panel that included police chiefs from nearby cities and city department directors, Blalock wrote in an e-mail.
Andy Miller, president of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, said, however, that he was concerned that his group was not involved in the selection process of the finalists.
"Who does it hurt to set up another interview so [the police officers] can question the candidates?" asked Miller, who is also a DPD lieutenant. "I'm sure the questions they ask will have a different set of interests from the city manager's."
He noted that the last police chief selection in 2002 demonstrated the importance of gathering input from different parties.
"It was a huge fiasco when [then-City Manager Marcia Conner] declined to involve anyone else in [the selection process]," Miller said.
Conner's first pick resigned because a prior record of arrest was discovered, the second choice took the job but left soon after and Chalmers, the third pick, ended up in the job.
Miller added that NCPBA was very involved in the third-round selection.
"Police officers are the majority stakeholders in the department, they should play more of a role in the selection process," Miller said. "The right way is to involve the employee group and let them have a say."
Mayor Bill Bell said the appointment and hiring of the police chief is Baker's responsibility and Baker can use any procedure to select the new chief.
"The process is what the manager decides, as long as it follows personnel procedures," Bell said. "He doesn't have to make it an open process, he doesn't have to have anyone involved."
This Sunday, Baker told Eyewitness News that the search is an open process and that he has been in touch with local PBA members. All police officers will meet with the candidates soon to offer their input, he added.
Chalmers notified Baker of his retirement plans in July 2006 and the search for the new chief began in December of that year, Blalock said.
"I've known the chief since becoming the mayor and overall he's done a good job from my perspective, notwithstanding the lacrosse incident," Bell said.
The candidates have been asked to withhold public comment until the forum.
Since the announcement of the finalists, two of the candidates' prior records have come to under scrutiny.
Hodge faced a misdemeanor charge of child abuse 10 years ago. Although the charges were dismissed in court, the North Carolina attorney general's office sought to strip Hodge of his law enforcement certification, The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday.
"There's nothing that causes me concern from that incident that affects Mr. Hodge's capacity to be the next Durham police chief," Baker told The N&O.
Lopez faced an investigation of mishandling of a firearm at a crime scene in 1999, The N&O reported Saturday. He was accused of attempting to conceal that a state representative's son was found with an illegal firearm. The investigation, however, found no evidence of wrongdoing.
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