Community asked for input in police chief selection process

The community is being asked for its opinions on criteria for selecting the next police chief in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a Unified Government spokesman.

A national search will be launched for the police chief selection, according to Dave Reno, interim public information officer for the UG. Local and national candidates may apply for the position. A new police chief is expected to be selected by late summer or early fall this year.

The former Kansas City, Kansas, police chief, Terry Zeigler, retired in September 2019, and Deputy Police Chief Michael York has been serving as interim police chief since Aug. 15, 2019.

Reno said the UG has been working on the selection process since last fall and is just entering the next phase of it now.

UG Administrator Doug Bach is in the process of selecting the search firm that will conduct the search, Reno said. Bach will select the police chief, who reports to the administrator.

Reno said the search firm selection was below the bid threshold, and the UG requested proposals from companies who do this sort of work. The UG has received four proposals, which it is evaluating, and the UG administrator will make a selection of one of them, he said.

Candidate interviews, assessments and a presentation to the UG Commission also are scheduled as part of the selection process.

The salary range for the new police chief will be based on what the search firm has to say about it, Reno said. Most likely it could be similar to the previous chief’s salary of around $161,000, he added.

The police chief will be responsible for a department of almost 500 employees who respond to more than 135,000 calls for service each year, according to the spokesman. The chief supervises divisions that handle patrols, investigations, community policing, traffic, narcotics and animal services, according to the UG. Many of the calls are resolved by the officers and do not result in arrests.

According to the UG, total target crimes have dropped almost 20 percent in the past 10 years. These are serious crimes including homicides and violent crimes.

Reno said the UG will be relying on the community to tell it what criteria will be important in selecting the next police chief.

Currently, the UG is meeting with neighborhood groups at Livable Neighborhoods to discuss criteria the community wants to see in the selection, he said.

Community focus groups will be set up in February and March. Residents who want to participate will have to register in advance, and only a certain number of residents will be selected, according to the spokesman. Those residents interested in the community focus groups may sign up at [email protected] by Feb. 28.

For those who cannot attend a focus group, the UG also will be accepting public comments on the police chief search through a survey at maps.wycokck.org/ChiefSearch.html. For those who do not go online, there will be printed copies of the survey available for residents at the Kansas City, Kansas, recreation centers, and surveys may be returned there or to the county administrator’s office at City Hall.

The UG also plans to meet with long-standing recognized organizations such as the NAACP, El Centro, Chamber of Commerce and Black Ministers Union to gain community input, according to the spokesman. There also will be candidate evaluations conducted by professional organizations, neighborhood group leaders, police labor organization, and UG employees selected by the administrator.

The public will be asked about their top priorities for the police chief and police department, which could include topics as recruitment, community relations, technology, crime reduction, internal operations and response times, according to the spokesman.

For more information about the police chief selection process, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Home/News-Slider-Data/Large-Set-One/KCKPD-Police-Chief-Recruitment.aspx.