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SELECTING A POLICE CHIEF: A HANDBOOK FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT dill ----POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM SELECTING A POLICE CHIEF: A HANDBOOK FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT Published by International City/County Management Association Police Executive Research Forum International lA\ City/County '!::Y~~!A ----POLICE EXECUTIVE Association '"'RESEARCH FORUM ICMA is the professional and educational organi The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a zation for chief appointed management executives national professional association of chief execu in local government. The purposes of ICMA are tives oflarge city, county, and state law enforce to strengthen the quality of local government ment agencies. PERF's objective is to improve the through professional management and to develop delivery of police services and the effectiveness of and disseminate new approaches to management crime control through: through training programs, information services, and publications. • The exercise of strong national leadership • The public debate of police and criminal justice Other recent ICMA guidebooks include: issues Human Resource Management in Local • The development of research and policy Government: An Essential Guide (42372) • The provision of vital management and leader- Telecommunications: Local Options, Local Action ship services to police agencies. (42369) Beyond Maps: GIS and Decision Making in Local PERF members are selected on the basis of their Government (42202) commitment to PERF's objectives and principles. Records Management: A Practical Guide for Cities PERF operates under the following tenets: and Counties (42087) Manager's Guide to Purchasing an Information 1. Research, experimentation, and exchange of System (42112) ideas through public discussion and debate are paths for the development of a comprehensive For further information about the publications or body of knowledge about policing. services for local governments offered by ICMA, 2. Substantial and purposeful academic study is a write to Publications Department, ICMA, 777 prerequisite for acquiring, understanding, and North Capitol St., N.E., Suite 500, Washington, adding to that body of knowledge. DC 20002. To order publications, call800/745- 3. Maintenance of the highest standards of ethics 8780 (outside the U.S., call 770/442-8631, ext. 377) and integrity is imperative in the improvement or visit the ICMA Bookstore online at http:// of policing. bookstore.icma.org. 4. The police must, within the limits of the law, be responsible and accountable to citizens as ©1999 by the International City/County Manage the ultimate source of police authority. ment Association, 777 North Capitol St., N.E., 5. The principles embodied in the Constitution Suite 500, Washington, DC 20002, and the Police are the foundation of policing. Executive Research Forum, 1120 Connecticut Av enue, N.W. , Suite 930, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved, including rights of reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including the making of copies by any photographic process; or by any electronic or mechanical device, printed, written, or oral; or recording for sound or visual reproduction; or for use in any knowledge retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is obtained from the copyright owner. ISBN: 0-87326-167-4 Selecting a police chief: a handbook for local government p. em. I SBN 0-87326-167-4 1. Police chiefs-Selection and appointment hand books, manuals, etc. I. International City/County Manage ment Association. II. Police Executive Research Forum. Printed in the United States of America HV8012.S45 1999 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 363.2'068'3-dc21 54321 Throughout this publication, references are made to existing statutory framework and case law decisions that delineate legal boundaries for every aspect of the search for a police chief. These legal boundaries are accurately described as they existed at the time of publication. However, with the release of new local, state, and federal statutory amendments and case law decisions, local officials must determine whether any material changes in the law have occurred before acting on the recommendations of this book. It is recommended that before the search for a police chief is begun, and throughout the selection process, the appointing authority consult about all details of the search process with legal counsel and a human resource professional. CONTENTS Introduction . vii Chapter 1: The Selection Process . 1 Chuck Wexler and Charlotte Lansinger Chapter 2: The Local Government Manager’s Perspective . 15 Wayne Bowers Chapter 3: The Police Chief’s Perspective . 37 Michael R. Maehler and Tom Wagoner Chapter 4: From Both Sides. 57 Darrel W. Stephens Chapter 5: Reducing the Risk of Litigation . 81 Michael A. Fry and Mark G. Spurrier Chapter 6: Evaluating Candidates . 101 Michael D. Mendenhall Chapter 7: Investigating Candidates. 121 Anthony E. Daniels, Susan E. Bortz, and John R. Moran, Jr. Chapter 8: Employment Contracts for Police Chiefs . 141 William E. Kirchhoff Chapter 9: Anatomy of a Successful Police Chief Search . 157 Kurt F. Kimball vi Contents Appendix A: Executive Search Firms . 177 Appendix B: Advertising Outlets for Police Chief Vacancy Announcements . 179 List of Contributors . 181 INTRODUCTION In the middle of the night a city manager is awakened by a phone call from the police chief. The chief apologizes for the late call and briefs the manager about an incident that has just happened. A rookie police officer, on routine patrol, spotted a car reported stolen earlier in the evening. When the officer tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver drove away at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. Other police cars joined the chase as the stolen vehicle wound its way through mostly deserted streets. Suddenly, the fleeing vehicle col- lided with a car driven by a teenager on his way to work. The suspect, appar- ently uninjured, jumped from the stolen car and was chased on foot by the rookie officer. The officer tackled the escaping runner and as the two struggled, the officer’s firearm went off, killing the suspect, a boy of 16. Now the chief asks the manager to accompany him to the morgue where the parents of the dead youth must identify their son. The chief interrupts his story to say that he has just learned from one of his officers that the injured teen driver has also died. The manager hangs up the phone, but immediately it rings again: a local news reporter asks whether the manager is aware that the rookie officer was involved in a similar incident just three weeks earlier. Over the course of the next year, this incident will prove to be a tragedy not only for the two youths and their families, but also for the officers in- volved. It will have profound implications for both the police chief and the city manager. Their relationship will be severely tested as they attempt to understand and explain the actions of the rookie officer. This single incident will affect the city’s relationship with the police union and the city’s image in the local and national media. This incident may cost both the police chief and the city manager their jobs. A scenario like this can happen in any town, at any time. Any manager who has been through this kind of experience knows that the manager and the chief are locked in a symbiotic relationship, built on mutual trust and open communication. During incidents like the one described, the critical viii Selecting a Police Chief: A Handbook for Local Government factors are not what happens that night, but what policies and practices are in place before the incident and what actions and policy changes occur after the incident. The right police leader can make all the difference—not just in crisis situations, but in the daily trial of working closely with police officers to keep citizens safe. The selection of a police chief is the manager’s single most important appointment. So how does one recruit, select, and appoint a professional police chief? This book addresses that question. It is the product of a collaboration be- tween the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)—both professional organiza- tions that have had considerable experience in this arena. In putting this book together, we selected managers, police chiefs, lawyers, federal investi- gators, human resource professionals, and executive search consultants to share their experiences about different aspects of the search process. This book will serve as a road map for local government officials to follow as they consider the selection of their next police chief. It will also make police chief candidates more sensitive to the concerns and issues of greatest interest to their potential employers. ICMA and PERF have a vested interest in a selection process that will result in an outstanding police chief. The right kind of police leadership can build mutual trust between police and community. A strong management team can institute reforms that will improve all citizens’ quality of life and make their neighborhoods safer. Indeed, the stakes are very high for the entire community. William Hansell Chuck Wexler Executive Director Executive Director ICMA PERF 1 THE SELECTION PROCESS CHUCK WEXLER AND CHARLOTTE LANSINGER Whether caring and responsible or perceptively hostile, police departments embody the values and culture of the jurisdictions they represent. Given this potential to define an administration, local government managers consider their police chief their single most consequential appointment. Unlike the appointment of the head of engineering or sanitation, the ap- pointment of the police chief inevitably becomes a political act. No other ap- pointment will generate the news media attention, lobbying, or scrutiny this one will receive. Indeed, in some ways the selection process itself is as impor- tant as the outcome. If the process bypasses relevant stakeholders, even the appointment of a clearly superior candidate will be denigrated by those who feel that their opinions were ignored.