Sixteen people have submitted applications to become Louisville's next police chief.
The application process closed Dec. 15, with applicants required to complete position papers that outlines their stances on 12 topics including management style, views on community policing, experience in command positions and interactions with officers.
Officials would not reveal the names of the applicants. Mayor Greg Fischer has said only the names of the top five finalists will be released publicly.
The reponse is lower than expected, said Deborah Keeling, who is overseeing the search process through her role as head of the University of Louisville's criminal justice administration department, which is being paid $49,000 to conduct the search.
Sixteen is "a good number" of candidates, said Keeling. "It gives us a number of individuals to look at. I think we can get the mayor five good candidates."
Fischer has said that he wants strongly to consider people who have a connection to Louisville when finding a replacement for former Chief Robert White, who left earlier this month to take the police chief's job in Denver.
Keeling said all but two of the applicants have a connection to Louisville, either through current employment or previously under the former city or county departments.
Over the next several weeks, three members of the Southern Police Institute will review the applications. All personal, identifying information is being stripped from the applications, so that each reviewer can assess points to the responses based on standard criteria and without bias.
That small committee includes former Southern Police Institute Director William Walsh, current director Tad Hughes and associate director Cynthia Shain, who is also a former Louisville Police deputy chief. They will meet to compare candidate assessments and try to come to consensus on a ranking to narrow down the field.
Keeling said she believes a group of six to 10 candidates will be chosen to continue in the process. By the end of January, Keeling said, a second panel - including two police chiefs from jurisdictions similar to Louisville, and Keeling and Shain - will interview that smaller group.
From there, five finalists will be selected to undergo comprehensive background checks and interviews with Fischer. The mayor said he hopes to have a new chief named by April 1.
"I'm looking for quality of applicants, so 16 is plenty," Fischer said. "I'm told there are several high-quality applicants, so that's good."
Public meetings on chief
As candidates were preparing their applications, Keeling said, there have been several meetings and forums to solicit public feedback on what the city needs in the next chief.
Several council members solicited comments. David James, D-6th District, said while he would have liked to have seen more people at the three forums he sponsored, he was happy with the attention people gave the issue.
"I would have liked more turnout," James said. "But the people who did were very passionate."
In order to get public input into the process, council members were asked to reach out to constituents. Several themes emerged in the meetings, James said, including the chance for residents to question finalists in open forums, the need to have officers more visible in the community and a concern over violence, drug and gang activity in the community.
Keeling said no public forums with candidates will be held.
Kelly Downard, R-16th District, said he solicited feedback through his electronic newsletter to constituents. He said he got about 15 responses covering a wide range of issues. But Downard said he didn't feel like the process was "terribly worthwhile."
Downard said it might have made more sense for the Southern Police Institute to hold one or two public forums, possibly netting better results.
Keeling said she will have meetings next week with some ministerial groups, members of the Fraternal Order of Police, and some members of other organizations, including the NAACP and the Urban League.
Summaries of information collected by council members indicate that "people are generally satisfied with the department," said Keeling.
She said the feedback shows residents want a chief who is engaged with the community, will continue to hold officers accountable for their behavior, is open about department policing strategies, and shares their concerns about domestic violence, drugs and gangs.
Information received from the public will be used to formulate questions for the panel interview that some candidates will undergo.