City of Ithaca
Chief of Police Search Process
WEST END BREAKFAST PROBES TOP COP SEARCH
Gathered for the year’s first meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building, 423 W. State St., nearly 50 Ithacans voiced concerns about the chief of police selection process to Bill Trochim, the Cornell University professor heading the process.
A priority list of 100 items of what Ithacans want in their next police chief will be based on 310 suggestions from previous forums, phone calls, drop boxes and e-mail set up for public submissions, Trochim said.
A 12-member screening committee will use community input to craft a job description. By March, candidates will visit Ithaca and be rated by the public through community forums.
The final selection of Ithaca’s top cop is expected by mid-to-late-April, Trochim said.
Concerns expressed by the group ranged from asking how much input the police department had to wondering if such a high-profile search could discourage some candidates.
The police had the same opportunities the public had for submission, Trochim said. Also, acting Chief David Barnes has made himself available for input, and officer Bill Finnerty is one of the 12 screening committee members, he said.
One attendee asked about the timeline, which provides for the hiring of the chief nearly a year before he or she would take the civil service exam. That person must score among the top three taking the test.
Mayor Alan Cohen said in an interview that he and the committee would only select someone "highly qualified and be able to pass that civil service test."
"We’re confident that the person we end up selecting will end up passing," he said.
Lauren A. Austin, director of the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission, expressed concern that there is no demographic listing of who submitted the 310 suggestions. Austin said that both the candidates and the community should know what groups were represented, particularly the African-American and Latino communities.
"They need to know that their voice was heard and given appropriate weight," she said.
Next chief forum:
- What: The next community forum for the IPD chief selection process
- When: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 22
- Where: The cafeteria in Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, 201 W. Buffalo St.
- For information: Contact Deb Hover at Concept Systems, Inc., 272-1206, or Joe Ingoglia, 256-2231
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