Tuesday, March 02, 1999
Grilling, wait nearly over for new police chief
Cincinnati city manager to make pick by Monday
BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Police chief candidates are finished with rounds of questioning — and by this time next week, one of them will be named Cincinnati's top cop.
Community groups had their say in the selection process Friday, when an advisory panel asked questions ranging from candidates' attitudes about women in policing to concerns about equal treatment of blacks and whites inside and outside the division.
Assistant Chiefs Thomas Streicher Jr. and Richard Biehl and Capt. Cindy Johns are vying for the job, which was vacated by Michael Snowden, who retired in November. The salary range is $73,317 to $101,928.
When Chief Snowden was a finalist for the job in 1992, the city established a 15-member citizens panel, whose members met with each candi date about two hours in three separate sessions.
This time around, the procedure was simplified to a five-member advisory group selected by City Manager John Shirey. The panel met with each candidate for an hour.
Panelists agreed not to discuss publicly what they asked or whether they had a favorite, said Barbara Glueck, a panelist who is area director of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Jewish Committee and head of Cincinnati's Citizens Police Advisory Commission.
But candidates themselves said topics ranged from the issue of residency (because anyone selected as chief would be required to move into the city) to how they would build relationships with the community.
“I got a feeling of what the com munity's concerns were,” Capt. Johns said, including the perception that police treat people in black neighborhoods with a racial bias.
Lt. Col. Streicher said some of the questioning hit on issues of race and gender.
The 1,000-member police force is about 27 percent black and 19 percent female.
The chief is selected through a civil-service process. Ten people from the top of the ranks took written and oral tests for the job. A consulting firm narrowed the list to three. The city manager then makes the final selection.
“All three candidates I had heard of and seen before because they are from our community,” said panelist Ernie Waites Jr., who represents the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, a group set up to promote race relations. “There weren't too many surprises.”
Panelists said they were familiar with the candidates because they had seen them rise through the ranks.
Lt. Col. Streicher is a former SWAT commander. Lt. Col. Biehl often met with the public when he was in charge of Youth Services. And Capt. Johns was well-known from her days as the division's spokeswoman.
“We think they're all very good candidates,” Ms. Glueck said. “We were very pleased to have the opportunity to serve. It's now up to the city manager.”
Mr. Shirey has a Monday deadline to name a replacement.
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