Police chief approached about jobs in S.F., Boston

By Michael Ko
Seattle Times staff reporter

Gil Kerlikowske

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Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske was recently asked by a consulting firm representing the San Francisco Police Department to interview for that city's top police job, but he declined.

"It was extremely interesting, the way it was portrayed," Kerlikowske said of the recruiting pitch. "The San Francisco Police Department does need some major reorganizing and revamping, and I am still pretty energetic."

The San Francisco job was filled earlier this month by Heather Fong, who had been an assistant chief in the department. Fong had been acting chief since January.

Kerlikowske, 54, said he also has been contacted by the Boston Police Department within the past several months about the chief's job there. He wouldn't elaborate.

Kerlikowske was sworn in as Seattle's police chief in August 2000.

The San Francisco hiring committee notified Kerlikowske about the chief's position. He subsequently received several phone calls to discuss the job and its challenges. But he said he stopped short of flying to San Francisco to formally interview.

Kerlikowske said he'd like to guide the Seattle Police Department through upcoming difficult budget years and also continue to work with the federal government on developing local strategies for homeland security.

Kerlikowske is Mayor Greg Nickels' point person for U.S. resources related to "urban protection" in Seattle. And Kerlikowske still has many contacts in Washington, D.C., where he worked for two years as a deputy director in the Justice Department under former Attorney General Janet Reno.

The department has stabilized since his early years here, Kerlikowske said, when the city was "lurching from one crisis to the next."

Months before he arrived, the city was besieged by the World Trade Organization riots and in Kerlikowske's first year Kristopher Kime died during a Mardi Gras melee in Pioneer Square.
 
Kerlikowske said one of his proudest accomplishments was getting the Seattle Police Department to meet national police-accreditation standards.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com