Everybody wants to be police chief in Platte City.
Well not everybody, but in less than three weeks after the job opening was posted, more than 70 interested persons have already applied for the position. And more will likely be coming.
“The city will continue to accept applications throughout the evaluation and selection process,” DJ Gehrt, city administrator, said this week.
Gehrt said he knew the post would attract attention but “we did not anticipate as many (applicants) as we have.”
He said the city anticipates a hiring decision to be made in February.
The post came open when Carl Mitchell submitted his retirement after nearly nine years on the job. Mitchell’s move came a couple of months after he had been placed on temporary reassignment to work from home and an outside evaluator was hired by the city to review the police department’s culture.
Deputy Lynda Hacker-Bristow of the Platte County Sheriff’s Department has been brought on as acting chief per a month-to-month agreement that can be extended through mid-January.
Bristow has let it be known to The Landmark that she is applying for the permanent position.
The salary range for the chief of police in Platte City is anywhere from $64,198 to $89,944, Gehrt said.
A selection process will include an initial evaluation comparing applications with position qualifications established in the position description by city management and human resources staff. The personnel committee will review the initial evaluation to validate qualified applicants.
Eventually the pool will be lowered to five to seven top candidates that will go through multiple interview panels, including a panel of current police officers, the public safety committee, board of aldermen, and mayor individual interview. “This is to avoid a single point of failure,” Gehrt said.
According to a city staff repot, desired characteristics in the next chief include:
•Knowledge of and commitment to community engagement and community policing.
•Knowledge of and commitment to an open, positive leadership, management and discipline style.
•Ability and commitment to identifying and developing subordinate supervisors.
•Ability and willingness to serve as representative of City and Police Department to civic and community organizations.
•Ability to professionally represent city at local, regional, state and federal law enforcement and public safety meetings, events, conferences and working groups.
•Demonstrated ability to analyze information as basis for developing community based public safety response plan.
•Commitment to continual professional development and training at all levels of the department.
•Ability to evaluate organizational functional, training, equipment and organizational needs and develop plan and budget recommendations to address those needs.