11 semifinalists named for Seattle police chief's job

For months, the spotlight on who would become Seattle's next police chief fell on Interim Seattle Police Chief John Diaz and Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who both made no secret of their desire for the job.

Now there are nine more names who on Monday joined Diaz and Kirkpatrick on a list of 11 semifinalists for the job.

Among them are two high-ranking chiefs in the Seattle Police Department — Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer and Assistant Chief Jim Pugel — and eight chiefs or former chiefs from other cities across the country, including Miami.

Diaz, Kimerer and Pugel were the only members of the Seattle Police Department to apply, according to sources familiar with the search, and their presence on the semifinalist list indicates the city could have its first permanent chief from within its ranks in more than 30 years.

But the large number of semifinalists — chosen by a 26-member search committee and announced Monday by Mayor Mike McGinn — also suggests the committee will take a hard look at an outsider before submitting the names of three finalists to McGinn next month.

In addition to three Seattle finalists and Kirkpatrick, the semifinalists are:

• Judy Bradshaw, chief of police, Des Moines, Iowa;

• Rick Braziel, chief of police, Sacramento, Calif.;

• Adam Burden II, former assistant chief of police, Miami Police Department;

• Ronald Davis, chief of police, East Palo Alto, Calif.;

• Rick Gregory, chief administrative officer/acting public-safety director, New Castle County, Del.;

• John Romero, chief of police, Lawrence, Mass.;

• Lisa Womack, former chief of police, Elgin, Ill.

Notably absent from the list were any high-ranking assistant chiefs from Los Angeles or New York, while many of the candidates are from cities smaller than Seattle.

Kate Joncas, president of the Downtown Seattle Association and one of two co-chairs of the search committee, said Monday that the search firm hired to find candidates advised the committee it was typical to get chiefs from smaller departments who want to move up and assistant chiefs from larger cities with the same goal.

Joncas noted that Romero had worked previously in the New York Police Department.

She said it wasn't surprising that three internal candidates emerged since the search firm told the committee Seattle has a strong police-management team.

The search committee, formed by McGinn, chose the semifinalists Wednesday night based on limited profiles lacking the names of the candidates. The names weren't provided to protect confidentiality promised to the applicants.

Originally, the committee had planned to name six to eight semifinalists from the 35 applicants.

But when the search firm hired by the city presented 11 candidates, committee members favored different candidates and had a wide variety of characteristics they were looking for, Joncas said.

As a result, the committee decided to move forward with all 11, Joncas said.

Additionally, because the committee dealt with profiles, all the candidates looked good and had interesting attributes, she said.

Committee members didn't want to eliminate anyone before seeing them all, Joncas said.

Before the names were disclosed, semifinalists were to be asked whether they remain interested in the job, allowing any who wanted to opt out to remain confidential. None chose that option.

As a courtesy, the semifinalists also were allowed time to alert their communities that they are candidates.

At Wednesday night's meeting, the search committee met in closed executive session where the search firm, Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, D.C., presented the profiles, tailored to criteria established by the search committee last month.

"I'm excited about this excellent field of candidates," Charles Rolland, the other co-chair of the search committee, said in a written statement.

The job opened last year when former Chief Gil Kerlikowske left to become President Obama's drug czar.

Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this story.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com