East Wenatchee Gets Started on Police Chief Search

The East Wenatchee City Council voted to begin their search for a new police chief Tuesday night.

"They think we probably could be offering the position to someone in May." Mayor Jerrilea Crawford said, "Obviously if they are in a current position they might have to give notice, so I'm hoping we can have someone in by June. We'll see. My fingers are crossed."

Prothman Employment Agency had already been selected as the recruiting agency. The question was what the scope of the search would look like.

Two options were put before the city council.

In Option 1, Prothman would only conduct the sourcing and outreach recruitment for the police chief position for $5,500. Option 2 had Prothman also providing recruitment service, candidate screening, candidate interviews and a list of finalists.

The city council chose the latter, for $17,500.

"Because I am a new mayor coming in, it gives a much more holistic look at that process." explained Crawford, "They can cast a wide net and really search long and far. They can do a lot of that vetting for us and then filter it down."

Crawford said this was by far her biggest project out of the gate as mayor. The council had previously decided to delay the search until the new mayor and city council had been sworn in, which also happened Tuesday night.

While the search is conducted, the city will be without a police chief for roughly six months. Crawford added that she is working on assigning someone that responsibility in the interim, although nothing is solidified yet.