Modesto reverses course, hires recruiter at $42,000 to help it hire police chief
After saying in December it would conduct its own search and had strong candidates within its own Police Department, Modesto has changed directions in hiring its next police chief.
City Manager Joe Lopez announced Wednesday the city has hired the Rocklin-based executive search firm Ralph Andersen & Associates to find a chief in a process that will include a nationwide recruitment.
Modesto spokesman Thomas Reeves said the change is not a reflection of the job Assistant Police Chief Brandon Gillespie has done as interim chief since the Christmas Eve retirement of longtime Chief Galen Carroll or that the city does not have strong internal candidates.
Reeves said Lopez’s change of mind is based on the fallout from then officer Joseph Lamantia’s fatal shooting of Trevor Seever on Dec. 29. Seever was unarmed, though there were reports he could have had a gun.
Gillespie fired Lamantia on March 18, and the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office charged him with voluntary manslaughter the same day. Lamantia, 35, has pleaded not guilty, is not in custody, and his attorney has said the shooting was justifiable.
The death of Seever, 29, resulted in his family, community members and activists expressing their outrage and grief at City Council meetings, several protests and demonstrations and calls for civilian oversight of the police as well as better training for officers in helping people who may be distraught or mentally ill.
“It’s a reflection of the sign of the times and of the community’s interest in this,” Reeves said about Lopez’s new direction. Reeves said that includes the conversations taking place nationwide about the role of police in the communities they serve.
Reeves said recruiting and hiring a police chief should take about 90 days, and Lopez is expected to select someone by the end of June. He said Modesto is paying Ralph Andersen & Associates $42,000.
Reeves said the community will be involved in the selecting the next chief.
He said the process starts with developing a candidate profile with Ralph Andersen & Associates meeting with Lopez, Mayor Sue Zwahlen and City Council members to learn their priorities and attributes for a chief.
Community members input sought
The recruiter also will “facilitate a series of stakeholder conversations and public surveys to better understand the qualities and characteristics” the community believes is needed in a chief and to help develop the candidate profile, according to Lopez’s announcement.
Reeves said the stakeholders will represent Modesto, including its businesses, nonprofits, civic and community groups as well as its racial and ethnic diversity and various neighborhoods, including representation from the heavily Latino and diverse communities of west and south Modesto.
Reeves said panels that will include members of the city’s executive team, former and current police chiefs, and the community stakeholders will interview candidates and recommend their top choices to Lopez.
Reeves said there are no plans to have finalists appear in public meetings so residents can meet them before Lopez names a new police chief.
Gillespie has said he would apply for the permanent job once it becomes open. He confirmed by text Wednesday that his plans have not changed.
A copy of Modesto’s contract with Ralph Andersen & Associates was not immediately available Wednesday.
