A closed police chief selection process hinders trust
The No. 1 objective for Greensboro's next police chief will be building trust, City Manager Mitch Johnson said yesterday.
The chief is expected to be named in a few weeks, wrapping up a long, long search process.
A search process hidden from public view.
Since last fall, when Johnson held a series of excellent public meetings allowing citizens to offer ideas about what kind of police chief Greensboro needs, little has been revealed.
Some cities do this much more openly, identifying the finalists, even letting the public meet them before a decision is made. For example, Spokane, Wash, held three public forums with its four finalists last summer. The local newspaper also had an opportunity to write informative profiles about the contenders -- all helpful to the public, in my view.
Sure, some candidates aren't comfortable with that. But it seems like a way to build a little trust from the start.
The trouble with the "Here's your new police chief, he (or she) was the very best candidate" approach are the unanswered questions: Best candidate among whom? What were the choices?
The process Johnson has used depends on a great deal of inherent public trust ... which is exactly what the social capital survey says Greensboro residents don't have in their government.
Given all the turmoil in the PD, and the fact that it's been more than 14 months since David Wray resigned under pressure and Tim Bellamy has been acting chief, this selection is critically important. Whomever is chosen, especially if he or she comes from outside the department, will have to overcome a tendency to distrust at first. That won't be an impossible task for the right person, but he or she could count on a head start if there were an opportunity to build public support during the final selection process. It's a lost opportunity.
Comments (7)
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Doug,
It's very simple, really. Much ado will be made about this search, and in the end, Bellamy will be named as Chief. We'll be told he was the best candidate, and we won't have a choice but to accept that, because we won't know what other choices were available, if any. Mitch Johnson knows who will get the job. This whole "search" is just for show to the public. Why should he hire an outsider? He doesn't want to take any risks that he'll get someone who might actually be independent of him. Since he runs GPD anyway, maybe he can just continue wiht Bellamy as the figurehead,
Posted on March 16, 2007 11:48 AM
Bellamy doesn't seem to me to be a figurehead.
I don't know if he applied for the job.
But if it's predetermined that he'll get the job, why hasn't it happened before now?
Posted on March 16, 2007 12:01 PM
"The Charade Must Go ON" seems to be the motto of the present city manager and city council.
How Sad.
Posted on March 18, 2007 11:38 AM
Doug,
I'm disappointed in your lack of political understanding. Bellamy hasn't been named chief yet because Mitch has to put on a good show of a "diligent search". I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that after a diligent search that Bellamy will be found to be the most qualified candidate, which will be no surprise if he's the only candidate.
Seriously, if this was a serious search, Mitch would be willing to share who the other candidate are, wouldn't he? As I said, he won't take the risk of an outsider that he might actually want to be independent.
Posted on March 19, 2007 10:44 AM
There wasn't anything wrong with the old Chief and hiring an outsider proved not to be a good idea the last time it was done. But having a black chief doesn't prevent charges of racism either.
I wonder what would happen if someone locked Mitch out of his office?
Posted on March 19, 2007 10:48 AM
Because Bellamy has been the de facto chief for more than a year, he might be hard to argue that he wouldn't be the best candidate regardless of other applicants. Any evidence that he's not doing a good job?
Posted on March 19, 2007 11:17 AM
"Any evidence that he's not doing a good job."
Hard to say.
Does Bellamy run the department?
Or is Mitch the de facto manager?
Posted on March 20, 2007 10:12 PM