Phoenix narrows search for police chief to three candidates
May 23, 2016, 2:05 PM
(City of Phoenix Photos)
PHOENIX — And then there were three.
The city of Phoenix announced Monday it had narrowed its search for a new police chief to a trio of candidates.
Assistant Phoenix Police Chief Mike Kurtenbach, Assistant Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham and Oxnard, California Police Chief Jeri Williams are the finalists.
Williams has been in law enforcement for 28 years and is a former assistant chief for the Phoenix Police Department.
Both Kurtenbach and Newsham have spent 26 years in law enforcement.
Now that they have been selected as finalists, the trio will take part in a public forum and will be interviewed by a panel of the city’s executive.
When the department first announced in February it would seek a new top cop, Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said city leaders gave him a list of qualities they hoped to see in the hire.
“They want a chief that will be engaged with the community,” he said. “They want someone that will have integrity and show leadership.”
The finalists are the only remaining candidates from an original pool of nine. Dohoney said the city had received 18 applications for the job in February.
Phoenix’s former police chief, Daniel Garcia, was fired in 2014 after he requested a two-year contract from the city as the department and city leaders criticized the way he ran things.
Joe Yahner has been serving as chief since Garcia’s dismissal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.