Santa Rosa police chief finalists face public

The three finalists for Santa Rosa police chief fielded a wide range of questions from the public Monday during a rare public forum that touched on issues ranging from the protests in Ferguson, Mo., the need for greater diversity among police officer ranks and the impacts of the upcoming annexation of Roseland.

Narrowed from a nationwide field of 25 candidates, the finalists are expected to have further interviews today with City Manager Sean McGlynn, who will make the final selection.

“I have a really tough decision to make tomorrow,” McGlynn said at the outset of the well-attended forum, the first of its kind held by the city. “The police chief is a critical part of the compact in any community between its citizens, its elected officials and its management team.”

The finalists are Santa Rosa’s Acting Chief Hank Schreeder and officials from two cities in Washington state, Jim Jolliffe, a deputy chief in Bellevue, and Chris Sutter, an assistant police chief in Vancouver.

All three expressed strong commitments to community-oriented policing, improved workforce diversity and the need for improved training to help officers de-escalate conflicts.

“I liked something from all three of the candidates. They all had something good to say,” said Ramon Merz, a commissioner on the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights.

He said Schreeder, who has worked for the department for 23 years including two as acting chief, demonstrated the deepest knowledge of local issues. But Merz also said he appreciated what Sutter had to say about the importance of diversity and community engagement.

“I liked that he had a very clear and fresh perspective, not like a politician,” Merz said.

Sutter, who started his law enforcement career in Bakersfield, spoke eloquently on the issue of improving relations between police forces and the communities they serve, calling it a “historic era” where police are facing “tremendous amounts of distrust.”

“We need to find ways to educate and share information so that people can believe in their police departments,” Sutter said. “After all, our power is derived from the people, and when that is eroded, when that’s gone, we have real problems, which we’ve seen nationwide.”

Jolliffe, who started his law enforcement career in Orange County, said the problems in Ferguson, which has been rocked by protests since last year’s shooting death of Michael Brown, reinforce the importance of officers getting out of their patrol cars and building personal relationships with residents.

“Every contact that you have with someone in the community counts …? every one of those is a drop in the reservoir of goodwill,” Jolliffe said. “It just seems to me the reservoir in Ferguson was bone dry.”

Schreeder pointed to the Santa Rosa department’s low-key approach to managing protests in the wake of the death of 13-year-old Andy Lopez. Lopez was shot Oct. 22, 2013, by a sheriff’s deputy who says he mistook the airsoft rifle Lopez was carrying for an AK-47.

“We were protecting people’s rights to demonstrate, and really, in this community to heal, but also protecting the lives of people involved in those demonstrations, as well as property,” Schreeder said.

Both candidates from Washington state had previously applied for the chief jobs in their respective departments, but were passed over.

Sutter was appointed interim chief in Vancouver in 2012 ?after the previous chief of five years resigned following ?the settlement of a $1.7 million wrongful termination settlement brought by an India-born officer and allegations another officer had a sexual relationship ?with an informant. The city manager at the time said he sought “fresh leadership” for the department.

Jolliffe was one of five candidates to apply for the chief post last year, but none was ?selected. His department has seen its share of scandal, including two department officials exposed for having ?an affair and three off-duty officers being drunk and belligerent to fans at a Seahawks game.

All candidates were asked to name their top three priorities if they were hired for the job.

Sutter said he would shift the department’s focus “from an enforcement model to a partnership model,” build a department that reflects the gender and cultural diversity of the community, and stress training “on cultural competency, on de-escalation of force and implicit bias.” Schreeder said he would continue to make sure the department has the staff and training needed for community policing, that officers receive the proper training in “escalation and de-escalation,” and that the department better communicates the value it provides to the community.

Jolliffe said he would focus on engagement of the Roseland community prior to annexation, safety around rail crossings and he would find ways to address concerns about the militarization of police forces.

“We should be seen as peacekeepers first and warriors second.”

McGlynn said he hoped to make a decision as soon as possible.

The position has a salary range of $158,080 to $196,256.