PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT ON POLICE CHIEF SEARCH

SOMERVILLE –Somerville is seeking

a new police chief and the City wants to hear from the community what

characteristics and qualities they would like to see in a new chief, with a

public hearing scheduled for March 5 and a survey that will be available both

online and in hard copy.

The public hearing on Wednesday,

March 5, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the East Somerville Community School

at 50 Cross St. The Waters Consulting Group representative Chuck Rohr, hired by

the City to assist in the police chief search, will solicit input from the

public on the qualities and characteristics desired by the next chief, issues

facing the city and what the public believes the city needs from the Police

Department. Translators for Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole will be

available at the hearing. A consultant with Waters Executive Recruitment, Rohr

previously worked with the City on the last two police chief selection

processes.

Community members unable to

attend the public hearing can provide feedback through an online survey that

will be posted to the City website next week, rating the importance of various

police chief candidate attributes and answering four questions. Paper copies of

the survey will also be available at the Somerville Police Department, City

Hall Welcome Desk, all Somerville Public Schools, the Central Library and its

East and West Branches. Completed surveys should be returned to the City of

Somerville Personnel Department on the lower level of City Hall.

Rohr will also meet with key

stakeholder groups and organizations across Somerville next week after the

public hearing to solicit further feedback on what those organizations are

seeking in a new police chief. The collected community feedback will then be

provided to the Police Chief Selection Committee and used to draft the brochure

that will advertise the open police chief position.

“Finding the next leader of the

Somerville Police Department requires soliciting the widest range of feedback

to ensure that the process represents the great diversity we have in our city,”

said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “We also want to ensure this selection process

is open, transparent and public, as outlined in the Somerville City Charter and

City Ordinance. Through this public meeting and survey, we hope to outline the

community’s values that should be embodied in the leadership of the Somerville

Police Department, find a candidate who matches those values and continue the

department’s success as an effective and efficient model of community-based

policing with a diversified workforce and decreased crime citywide.”

Mayor Curtatone will select a new

police chief in accordance with the City Charter and City Ordinance, which

requires the creation of the Police Chief Selection Committee. Between three

and five candidates chosen as finalists by the selection committee will take

part in a public interview, with residents and community members invited to

attend and submit written questions ahead of time as well. Finalist interviews

are tentatively scheduled to take place in June.

– END –

Contact:

Jackie

Rossetti 617-625-6600, ext. 2614