11-18-20 - Press Release - Fairbanks Police Chief Hiring Process
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Fairbanks Police Chief Hiring Process
DATE: November 18, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Teal Soden, Communications Director, 907-459-6793, tsoden@fairbanks.us
Mayor Matherly would like to express his gratitude and appreciation to all community members and the City Council members who have offered their insights regarding the upcoming police chief hiring process for Fairbanks Police Department.
The police chief holds an important role in our community, and it is the goal of the City of Fairbanks to have an open and transparent hiring process and to include a diverse selection of community members on the interview panel. The Fairbanks police chief must be able to build strong relationships and work effectively with many different areas of our community including businesses, area-wide law enforcement agencies, and the residents. After consideration of the suggestions from the community and the City Council, Mayor Matherly has created a panel of nine seats comprised of community members that all have different areas of expertise that will be beneficial in hiring the new police chief. He will be asking members and representatives from the following organizations to fill those seats:
- Homeless and Housing Coalition
- NAACP
- Behavior Health
- Native Leadership
- Chamber of Commerce
- Alaska State Troopers
- Fairbanks Diversity Council
- District Attorney’s Office
- Interior Alaska Nonviolent Living
The application period will open internally on December 14th and close on December 21st. If a larger pool of applicants will benefit the process and the City, the Mayor can then open the process up to the public and consider external applicants along with the internal applicants.
After the initial interviews with the panel, it is the Mayor’s intention to have a public forum in which questions, provided by the Fairbanks Diversity Council, will be asked of the applicants by a facilitator. The date of the public forum will be advertised in advanced once it is scheduled.
After both the interviews and the public forum are complete, the interview panel will provide recommendations to the Mayor. After considering their recommendations, all other relevant information, and comments from the public that have been received during this process, the Mayor will bring his decision to the City Council.
While this is not a simple process, Mayor Matherly believes that taking the time to have the community involved to this degree will be highly beneficial in the long run.
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