13 candidates in the running for Centerville police chief

CENTERVILLE -- Thirteen people are in the running for Centerville police chief, and a three-member panel could send a short list to the mayor and council after reviewing the candidates.

Mayor John Harley said he doesn't know the names of the candidates on purpose.

"The other council members, I told them 'stay out of it,' " Harley said. "We don't want to know who's on it. Let the panel figure it out and get the best qualified."

The panel is headed by Councilman Micheal Evans. He asked Perry police Chief Steve Lynn and Frank Strickland, acting campus police chief at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, to help him in the review.

Lynn said he agreed to assist in the search and has received information about the candidates for review, but the panel has not yet met to discuss the candidates.

Stickland said expects the panel will meet to narrow the list of candidates and then interview some of them, unless Evans wants to interview all of them. Efforts to reach Evans were unsuccessful.

Strickland and Lynnn both declined to discuss the pool of candidates. Harley said how the panel proceeds is strictly up to Evans.

"The panel can come down to one person. They can come down to five people -- however many they want to," Harley said. "Then the panel will submit them to us, and then the whole mayor and council will look at them."

Harley noted that while it's possible a police chief will come from the current candidates, neither the panel nor the council is obligated to select a chief from the group.

"That doesn't mean we're going to select one of these people," Harley said. "They may decide none of these are qualified ... and open it back up again."

Harley expects the full council will want to talk to the top contenders for the post.

"We'll talk to the best qualified."

Harley expects the panel may keep the candidates under wraps until selecting finalists.

"If it's three or less, then we have to release it to the public," Harley noted.

State law compels disclosure of the final three candidates for a police chief's position before an appointment vote by the governing body.

"We don't have a timeline," Harley said. "There's no rush. ... We want to do it right."

During the interim, Centerville police Capt. Chuck Hadden is over the police department as the senior ranking officer. Hadden, who has served as a detective for the agency, said he did not apply for police chief. He wants to get more experience under his belt and thinks he can learn from whoever is selected chief.

The police chief's post has been the subject of contention in recent months after former Chief Sid Andrews stepped down in June. Andrews put the city on notice recently that he intends to file suit. He's alleging that his privacy rights were violated when council disclosed to The Telegraph that he was retiring for health reasons.

After Andrews resigned, the assistant's chief's position was eliminated, leaving that person without a job. Then-Councilman Ed Tucker resigned and, at the same meeting, was named director of police services. The council later decided that appointment wasn't working and abolished the position.

After that, under an agreement between Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton and Centerville city leaders, sheriff's Capt. Ronnie Harlowe shepherded the agency for 90 days. Hadden was promoted and placed at the helm temporarily while the search for a new chief continues.

"I just don't think it will have an impact on it because the people you are interviewing are going to look at the organization and see that the organization, the police officers themselves, are well trained," Harley said. "They're all highly qualified, they're all current, up to date on everything.

"It's a great organization to be going to and whoever becomes the chief will put his or her own leadership style it," he said.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 7:55 PM with the headline "13 candidates in the running for Centerville police chief ."