City of Ithaca
Chief of Police Search Process
EDITORIAL What the chief means to the city
Unlike many other small cities, Ithaca’s chief has inevitably been pulled and tugged by politicians and special interests, to the point of distraction. The last permanent chief, Harlin McEwen, was a tough lawman with thick skin. But when a good job was offered at the FBI, McEwen, a long-time resident, grabbed it.
Most of his decision was based on a desire to work at the highest level of his profession. A little of it was a chance to get out of a city that can be too self-absorbed or accusatory, which in part prompted acting Chief David Barnes, a native Ithacan, to back away from the position.
“It’s very difficult in Ithaca because there are so many competing interests,” McEwen said Friday from an FBI office in West Virginia. “You’ve got to respond to them, but you also have to do what’s right for the entire city.”
At the outset, the chief-selection process is mostly on the mark, utilizing everything from drop boxes to Web sites in order to gather feedback. By asking residents to consider one characteristic they would like to see in their chief, real specifics can be incorporated into a working blueprint. As they consider that input, people should:
- Have patience. The next chief won’t solve all the city’s crime problems – many years in the making – in quick order. He or she will need time and space.
- Embrace candor and vision. Ithaca shouldn’t hire somebody from outside the city who has all the answers. That person doesn’t exist; he or she would have had to live in this unique fishbowl.
- Be open-minded. Undoubtedly, the next chief will have a great deal of compassion and respect for diversity. We hope that the first time a candidate disagrees with a group or doesn’t respond as quickly as someone would like, he or she isn’t hung with some sort of unfortunate label, an Ithaca specialty.
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This project is sponsored in part by:
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