Olympia police chief recruitment restarts with focus on reform, equity
.jpg "Olympia has restarted its recruitment process to bring on a new police chief to lead the city’s law enforcement.")
Two interim chiefs and a months-long hiatus later, Olympia has restarted its recruitment process to bring on a new police chief to lead the city’s law enforcement.
The job was posted Jan. 18 by Public Sector Search & Consulting, Inc. Gary Peterson, the president and CEO of the consulting firm, was brought in by City Manager Jay Burney to lead the recruiting process. Applications are being accepted until Feb. 14.
The original search was put on pause after a troubling news story about one of the four finalists was discovered. The story revealed finalist Derrick Turner grabbed a man by the throat while he was an officer in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both Burney and the consulting firm hired by the city said they were unaware of the story prior to naming Turner a finalist.
In April 2021, Burney announced the city was calling off the search altogether until the end of 2021 and would hire a new consulting firm.
In a prepared statement, Burney wrote that the search was called off out of a desire to wait for the recommendations from committees working on the Reimagining Public Safety process, which looked at Olympia’s policing and criminal justice systems to propose racial justice reforms.
It’s now been two years since OPD has had a full-time police chief, Burney said. After Chief Ronnie Roberts retired in November 2019, Aaron Jelcick became interim chief. Later, he was one of four finalists in the original recruitment process for a full-time chief. He then announced plans to retire in September 2021 and was replaced as interim chief by Deputy Police Chief Rich Allen.
Burney told The Olympian on Friday that although the search has begun again, more conversations need to be had about reimagining public safety before a new chief is hired. He said he knows how important it is to the community that the chief focus on reform and finding ways to best serve Olympians.
Burney said he’s continuing to work with department and community work groups to outline what people want in a new police chief. He said he would have liked for this process to have wrapped up at the end of 2021, but it’s important work that couldn’t be rushed.
Instead, they will work in tandem; applications will come in while Burney continues to gather community and city department leaders to form panels and prepare town hall events to meet candidates. The hope is that panels will be held in March and April, with a candidate chosen by the end of spring.
Some of the requirements for Chief of Police are a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, as well as at least seven years of experience in a supervisory role within a police department that involves budget management and leading a diverse staff of employees. Candidates must also be able to obtain Washington State police officer certification within six months of employment as well as a valid Washington State driver’s license.
The current annual salary for the position is $192,177. More information on the position as well as the recruitment brochure can be found on the Public Sector Search & Consulting website.
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