The City of Tukwila is recruiting for its next Chief of Police, and they’re seeking community feedback.

As we previously reported, Police Chief Bruce Linton retired in September.

Before the recruitment process begins, the City says it will go through a community engagement process to gather ideas and input from the Tukwila community on the characteristics sought in a new Police Chief, as well as identify short and long-term priorities for a new Chief.

“We will be doing targeted outreach to members of the Faith community, Nonprofit community, Business community, Tukwila Boards & Commissions, Teens for Tukwila and Police Department staff,” the city said. “A community listening session will also take place.”

“Please help us by taking a short survey available in English, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese below.  All feedback and ideas will be gathered and shared once the process is complete.”

Recruitment will be held in-house with Juan Padilla, Human Resources Director and Rachel Bianchi, Deputy City Administrator and will be open from December 14, 2020 to January 15, 2021. Qualified candidates will be vetted through initial online interviews.

Starting Feb. 1, 2021, the next round of candidates will complete written and verbal assignments on how they match up with the characteristics and priorities set by the community.  Interviews and scoring will be done by a diverse group that includes two panels made up of City staff and representatives from each community group from the engagement process.

On the week of Feb. 15, 2021 candidates will be reduced to three for final interviews with the Mayor, City Administrator and Council President (or designee). The final three candidates will participate in a “meet the community” event which is still to be determined depending on the pandemic.

A permanent Chief of Police appointment will take place at the March 1, 2021 Council meeting.

Here’s more info from the city:

COMMUNITY OUTREACH TIMELINE

    • Targeted outreach to community groups – November 2020
    • Community Listening Session – November 7, 2020 – 10:00am to 11:30am
    • Community Engagement Survey – October 28, 2020, closes November 13, 2020
    • Gather responses and provide a report to the community – December 2020

POLICE CHIEF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SURVEY

We want to hear from the community! Let us know what is important to you when recruiting the next Chief of Police. Please share your feedback by taking this brief survey by November 13, 2020.