Interviews underway in secret for new San Diego police chief

San Diego — There’s movement in the search for a San Diego police chief — although not in public.

• Six unidentified finalists interviewed with community leaders on Tuesday. They interviewed with law enforcement experts on Wednesday.
• The public doesn’t know who’s applying — or even who did the interviews.
• The mayor has released a list of organizations represented on the community panel, but has resisted requests to identify individuals until after the new chief is selected.

Here’s the full story

Six finalists to become San Diego’s new police chief answered questions from community leaders on Tuesday and law enforcement experts on Wednesday during separate interview panels closed to the public, a city spokeswoman said.

The community leaders represented a wide variety of local organizations, including the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Pacific American Coalition and the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

The law enforcement experts, who were joined on their panel by some of Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s top staffers, included San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, La Mesa Police Chief Walt Vasquez and Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams.

Faulconer is expected to schedule third interviews with some of the six finalists later this month, based on input from those interview panels and advice from a national search firm he hired last fall.

The mayor is scheduled to announce his recommendation for chief in late January or early February, with the City Council then holding confirmation hearings shortly afterward.

Faulconer has been criticized for a lack of transparency during the selection process, particularly his decision not to reveal the names of most of the interview panelists until after the new chief is selected. The candidates also are not being identified.

The mayor’s staff contends revealing the names of panelists would make those individuals vulnerable to being lobbied by prospective candidates or special interest groups during the process.

Critics say that’s the whole point — revealing the names of panelists would make the panelists and the mayor listen to public input and be more accountable. They say the process gives the semblance of community participation, but that it’s smoke and mirrors because the mayor has all the power and discretion.

Faulconer has identified 22 community groups represented on the 24-member community panel that conducted interviews with the finalists on Tuesday.

In addition to the homeless task force, the chamber and the Asian Pacific American Coalition, they include:

the Anti-Defamation League, Citizens Equal Opportunity Commission, Community Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations, Community Planners Committee, Community Review Board on Police Practices, Downtown San Diego Partnership, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, Gang Prevention and Intervention Commission, Human Relations Commission, LGBTQ Latino Coalition of San Diego County, Mexican American Business & Professional Association, Mid-City Community Advocacy Network, Municipal Employees Association, Park & Recreation Board, Police Officers Association, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, San Diego Pride and San Diego Unified School District.

Critics of the mayor say he should go beyond naming the organizations and name the individual panelists, the procedure followed when Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tucson chose new chiefs in recent years.

The mayor’s staff notes that seven California cities choosing new chiefs since 2015 have declined to name interview panelists: Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Cruz, La Mesa, West Covina, San Pablo and Capitola.

City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez last month asked City Attorney Mara Elliott for a legal opinion on whether any city laws prevent Faulconer from revealing the names of panelists.

In a Dec. 22 memo to the council, Elliott wrote that members of the interview panels don’t have a “privacy interest” that would prohibit disclosure of their identities. But Elliott said the six finalists do have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The mayor’s staff says won’t name the finalists for chief, explaining that people potentially switching high-profile jobs typically request anonymity until they take the new position. Only the selected candidate will be identified.

San Diego needs a new police chief to replace Shelley Zimmerman, who must retire in March because she’s reached the five-year limit on working after joining the city’s deferred retirement option program.

The new chief will take over a department struggling with a chronic shortage of officers and wrestling with concerns about racial profiling and tension between police and residents of ethnically diverse neighborhoods south of Interstate 8.

Faulconer hired Bob Murray & Associates last fall to conduct a national search for a new chief, something that the City Council’s Democratic majority had lobbied the Republican mayor to do.

Officials from the Northern California firm said during one of six public forums the city conducted last fall that they are likely to focus on candidates from the west coast and California.

They said candidates from California are generally more appealing because they know state laws and procedures and they have obtained all of the state certifications necessary to be a peace officer.

Faulconer’s staff has also said the mayor plans to consider promoting someone from within the department, something the police officers labor union has lobbied for.

San Diego has hired a chief from outside the department only once in the last 50 years. San Jose Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, Zimmerman’s predecessor, was appointed San Diego chief after a nationwide search in 2003.

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