Consultations Underway to Select New Missoula Police Chief

This week has been a whirlwind of activity at the City of Missoula as five candidates for the position of Chief of Police attended public forums with city officials, Missoula residents and the media.

The final determinations are now being made to select the new chief, with the final decision being up to Mayor John Engen.

Director of Human Resources at the City of Missoula, Kathy Crego said the week went well.

“This week we had a number of steps through our process,” said Crego. “We had an interview committee, we had some public forums, we had each of the candidates meeting with the police department, the police association and the chief of the University of Montana Police, and now we’re compiling all that information.”

Crego said the final candidate left town on Thursday afternoon, and laid out the next steps in the process.

“This next step is for us to compile all the information, and we’re still getting feedback from the officers and from others, and then that information will; be presented to the mayor,” she said. “He will decide on a conditional offer to be made, meaning that any offer he makes will be contingent upon a full background investigation, so that’s where we are as of today (Friday).”

Crego said each of the candidates were able to acquaint themselves with the layout of the Missoula Police Department.

“Not only did we have meetings with all the officers who could come as their schedules allowed,” she said. “I made sure that I tried to cover a number of different shifts, I also made sure that each candidate had a full tour of the police department so they could meet the individuals one on one to answer any questions. I was extremely impressed with the qualifications of all of the individuals and I know that among those individuals will be an exceptional chief of police.”

The nominees included Michael Cobb and Darrin Grondel from Washington, Garrick Haynes from Missouri, Jaeson White from California and the only candidate from within the Missoula Police Department, Assistant Chief Scott Hoffman.

Crego said she would not be surprised to have more news on the appointment by the middle of next week.