Chief Finalists Face Public Six Candidates Focus Comments On Popular Community Issues
The six candidates for Spokane’s vacant police chief job took turns reciting buzz words at a public forum Tuesday.
Connectivity. Partnership. Communication. Diversity.
The most-repeated buzz phrase - community-oriented policing.
“For me, being an efficient police department means being in touch with your community,” said Joy Citta, a captain with the Lincoln, Neb., police department and the only woman applicant.
It was clear the people vying to replace former Chief Terry Mangan had done their homework and knew what many of the 50 people in the Spokane Community College auditorium wanted to hear.
What wasn’t clear is how City Manager Bill Pupo will find differences among them.
By the end of the week, Pupo is expected to choose two or three of the six as finalists for the $87,000-per-year job.
The group will be in Spokane through Thursday taking part in a series of exercises, interviews and workshops.
Tuesday’s public forum was a chance for citizens to ask questions of the candidates and then evaluate them. The questions ranged from views on race relations to stands on gun control.
The applicants, culled from an original pool of 26, had similar views on most things.
They all agreed that a citizens committee to review complaints against the police department was acceptable, if not necessary.
“We have the right to enter your house without your permission, to use coercive force on you, to take away your freedom,” said Mike Aubrey, Spokane County undersheriff. “I think it’s not an unreasonable request to have an outside review process.”
They all said targeting and vigorously prosecuting known gang members was the first step in controlling the spread of youth gangs.
“Basically, I think there are three ways to control a gang problem. They are enforcement, enforcement, enforcement,” said John Robertson, the self-described “controversial candidate” who was recently fired from his job as chief in Orange, Calif.
They all believe that open communication and the recruitment of people of color to the police force are the most important steps in promoting good relations between police and minority communities.
“Eventually, a force should mirror the community,” said Alan Chertok, a major from the Newport News, Va., police department.
The harmony, especially on race relations, annoyed Bob Lloyd, editor of Spokane’s African American Voice newspaper.
“Is there anything you don’t agree on?” Lloyd asked them. “You just don’t understand what it’s like.”
Deputy Chief Paul Conner of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the 20th largest in the country, assured Lloyd, who is black, that he and the rest of the candidates, all of whom are white, weren’t just spewing platitudes.
Only Whitman County Sheriff Steve Tomson stood out from the crowd. Wearing black lace-up boots under his dress pants, Tomson came across as a maverick.
Lloyd didn’t like that either, saying Tomson’s macho attitude scared him.
“If you don’t want a warrior for a police chief, I’m not the guy,” Tomson responded.