POLICE VACANCY Poland Twp. committee prepares to pick chief

The committee is reviewing r & eacute;sum & eacute;s.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- Township trustees have a selection committee for a new police chief lined up and ready to make a decision in as little as two weeks.
Trustee Mark Naples said a committee of five township residents -- Mark Fortunato, Lesley Eckman, Dave Bobby, Dave Ruehle and police officer Rick Hanley -- has been assembled.
Naples said trustees wrote down the names of people from the community they thought would be good candidates for the selection committee. A few people called and asked to be included on the list, he said.
From that pool, trustees selected the five. The remaining names were held as alternates in case one of the five selected drops out, Naples said.
Trustees had received criticism for not immediately divulging the names of those on the committee. Naples said keeping the names from the public helped to ensure the process would not be tainted.
"The reason we put this together like this was to keep the candidates or their friends from calling these people," he said. "We don't want anybody taking advantage of knowing anybody. We wanted to give the committee the chance to read the r & eacute;sum & eacute;s on their own without anybody influencing them."
Fourteen candidates
Naples said committee members have been individually reviewing the r & eacute;sum & eacute;s of all 14 candidates for the position. The committee will meet and select the strongest candidates for the position and give reasons for their selections.
Trustees have not set a limit on the number of candidates the committee can deem worthy of continuing in the selection process.
The new chief must have 10 years' experience as a full-time officer, supervisory experience and knowledge of all aspects of police work and must pass a background check and physical and psychological tests.
Once the committee has selected the strongest candidates, trustees, committee members and the final candidates will meet and a chief will be selected.
Naples said putting together the committee was the best way to handle picking a new chief. The process allows little room for the public to believe the process was biased, Naples said.
"This can't be tainted," he said. "I don't know how we could have done it any better. There is not a police chief already picked, I can tell you that right now."
jgoodwin@vindy.com