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.

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Contact:

Jackie
Rossetti 617-625-6600, ext. 2614