Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's police chief search committee announced three finalists Friday: Eddie Frizell, Minneapolis Police Department inspector; Cameron S. McLay, former Pittsburgh chief of police; and Ely Reyes, assistant chief of the Austin Police Department.
“At the end of the day I think we focused on who we thought had the leadership capabilities, the systems orientation, and the ability to change the culture of the police department,” said former Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess, who co-chaired the search committee.
Frizell, who has been with the Minneapolis Police Department for 25 years, also holds the rank of Colonel in the Minnesota Army National Guard.
McLay spent 29 years with the Madison Police Department before he went to Pittsburgh.
Reyes has been with Austin Police for 22 years. Before that he served in the U.S. Army, earning a Purple Heart, Lifesaving Medal, and three Meritorious Service Medals.
Durkan will interview each candidate in the coming weeks, and the candidate she nominates will be confirmed by Seattle City Council.
The mayor hopes to select a candidate by late June to early July, according to Burgess.
Burgess said there was a lot of consideration about whether the candidate should come from inside or outside the department.
“While the police department has made tremendous progress in reform, there is still a lot of work yet to do, including some of the foundational cultural reform that has yet to take root, and we felt that it was best at this point for an outsider to come in as chief of police,” Burgess said.
Interim police chief Carmen Best was in the running for the position before the finalists were announced. Best took over as police chief following the departure of Kathleen O'Toole, who held the position since June 2014.
Mayor Durkan opened up a nationwide search for the department's next police chief. A 25-person committee began the search in January.
In a memo to Durkan dated Friday, the search committee found serious long-running issues in the department, hinting at a need for an outside perspective.
"SPD faces significant resource deployment challenges. Less than half of all sworn officers are assigned to patrol, a percentage that is inconsistent with a national practice of 60 percent or more of sworn officers being assigned to patrol," the group wrote. "SPD uses a community policing model that assigns specific officers to this work, segregating them from the main patrol force, thereby signaling others that they are not responsible. This is a serious error and prevents adoption of a community policing culture across the entire Police Department."
The memo also said, "SPD lacks supervisor accountability standards and capabilities... SPD officers and detectives produce an inconsistent work product in terms of thoroughness and accuracy."
Best is well respected by the rank and file, and well liked in the community. A source close to the search says Best was one of five finalists and scored the lowest of any of those final candidates. She released the following statement late Friday:
"There is no greater honor than to have served as the Chief of the Seattle Police Department, in a city and department that I love. I want to thank the Mayor for the opportunity and have agreed to her request that I continue as Interim Chief until a new Chief is confirmed. I wish the candidates the best – each of them should know how fortunate they will be to lead officers who have a commitment to public safety and reform. We will continue to work to meet our community’s expectations, while leading the way as one of the best departments in the country, with Service, Pride and Dedication. Thank You."
However, a couple members of the Community Police Commission were upset she was excluded from the final list.
"What essentially happened was systemic racism - the black woman was left out," said Enrique Gonzalez.
Rev. Harrier Walden echoed the same thoughts, saying, "Carmen has worked through this consent decree - Seattle is a progressive racist city."
