Wanted: Someone to lead the Chattanooga Police Department as it contends with perpetual, violent gang activity and deep community divisions along socioeconomic and geographic lines.
Today, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is announcing the formation of a six-person search committee to find a replacement for Police Chief Fred Fletcher, who is set to retire when his contract ends July 6.
"Establishing a committee made up of community members and external stakeholders is the same formula we used to select Chief Fletcher," Berke wrote in a news release.
"That strategy produced great results last time and I am confident it will help us again determine the right chief to lead our police department forward."
Fletcher, who came to Chattanooga three years ago from Austin, Texas, announced April 7 he would retire and cited personal reasons.
The committee will review and vet the applicants and recommend no more than three finalists to Berke. The Chattanooga City Council will vote to ratify his choice.
The committee represents a variety of backgrounds and includes former District Attorney Bill Cox; Olga de Klein, former chairman of the Highland Park Neighborhood Association's safety committee; former U.S. Attorney Bill Killian; pastor Ternae Jordan of Mount Canaan Baptist Church; TechTown CEO Chris Ramsey, and General Sessions Judge Christie Sell.
Berke said the city won't use a search firm to conduct a national search, as it did when Fletcher was hired. Candidates from inside and outside the department will be given equal consideration.
Both the mayor and the committee members are confident all applicant screening will be completed before Fletcher's contract ends, but if needed, Berke will appoint an interim chief, according to the release.
Berke said that when Fletcher took over, he asked the new chief to be sure he surrounded himself with quality officers, one of whom might now take the department's reins.
"Chief Fletcher has built a deep bench of leaders at the police department and any of them could step up to lead us through a transition," he said. "In fact, I have no doubt some of these talented leaders will be among the strongest applicants for the final position."
Chattanooga Councilman Chip Henderson, chairman of the public safety committee, said he favors a local candidate who already has context for city issues that need to be addressed.
"I feel like we have talent within our police department that we can choose the next chief from," Henderson said. "I'm looking for someone who has the ability to lead and understand the problems we're having in Chattanooga."
Whoever is chosen will inherit the remnants of the Violence Reduction Initiative, one of Berke's signature programs.
The initiative relies on "focused deterrence" through cooperation by police, prosecutors and social service groups to crack down on the few who shoot, while offering services such as job training and education to people willing to give up their guns.
Chattanooga has pumped more than $1 million into the initiative, but it has had, at best, mixed results.
Shootings involving gang members have not decreased since the program was launched in March 2014. Instead, they rose from 63 to 80 in 2015 and remained at 80 again in 2016, according to police.
For Henderson, some of the heaviest lifting for the incoming chief will be tackling violent gang activity and working closely with community leaders to bolster neighborhood policing.
That's also a priority for de Klein. Through her work in Highland Park, she said, she came to know what an effective community partnership with law enforcement can offer, especially when the chief is a capable leader.
"The chief of police needs to bring out the best in the officers as well as the community they serve," she said. "He or she has to be inspiring both to the officers and to the communities he serves. We have to be able to believe in the chief of police."
She will look at applicants for honesty, integrity and humility as well as practical knowledge of what it means to wear the uniform. She said the ideal candidate will invest in his or her officers and be willing to get involved wherever needed.
"He needs to know what officers go through on a daily basis and be out there in the community," she said. "He needs to be a hands-on guy."
While only the selection committee will make recommendations to Berke, the Citizen Safety Coalition is developing a citizen survey to help guide the review criteria used during the hiring process, according to a news release.
The coalition was formed during a particularly violent month in the spring of 2016 as a community partnership designed to stem the bloodshed by fostering strong, stable relationships within neighborhoods.
Co-chaired by Bishop Kevin Adams of Olivet Baptist Church and Dr. Charles Mitchell, vice principal of Brainerd High School, the group works with young men and women in Chattanooga to keep kids out of trouble, especially during the summer.
The survey will be used to determine interview questions. All Chattanoogans are encouraged to provide feedback and participate in the process by filling out and sharing the survey, which will be made available in the next few weeks.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.