LIBERTY Panel makes its pick for police chief
Trustees will meet Wednesday to consider the committee's recommendation.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- A committee involved in the selection of the next police chief recommends a Hubbard Township man, who is a former police chief and a former war crimes investigator in Kosovo.
Trustee Patrick Durina, a member of the five-member selection committee, said trustees will interview Anthony Slifka on Wednesday.
Slifka, 49, was one of five applicants interviewed last week by the committee.
All approved: Durina said Slifka was the unanimous choice of the committee members, who made the recommendation Monday.
The Ohio Chiefs of Police Association gave finalists' names to the committee.
If trustees don't hire Slifka, the OCPA will begin the national search again.
Ronald Heineking of Kent has been serving as interim chief since April.
Heineking replaced Michael Pilolli, who resigned in the wake of a critical OCPA review of the department that highlighted a deep rift within the police force.
Shows results: Durina said the committee selected Slifka because he has made improvements in other departments.
If selected, Slifka would begin work in about a week, Durina said. The job pays between $53,000 and $60,000 and has a residency requirement.
Slifka said Monday the department needs leadership to resolve onging disputes.
He is a 1970 graduate of Hubbard High School and served in the Army in Germany as a military policeman until his discharge in 1973. After serving briefly as a dispatcher and a reserve police officer in Hubbard, Slifka was a member of the police department in Thornton, Colo., 11 years, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He then served 13 years as chief of the Fairborn Police Department near Dayton.
Since Fairborn, Slifka has worked for the U.S. State Department.
He was attached to the United Nations, investigating mass murders in Kosovo.
yovich@vindy.com