City Manager Chris Cherches announced today that Norman Williams has been promoted to Chief of Police. Chief Williams has been with the police department for more than 24 years and has served in a number of capacities, most recently as Deputy Police Chief.
The process of selecting the new Chief of Police was very thorough. The three candidates, Deputy Chiefs Steve Cole, Terri Moses and Williams, participated in a written exercise with six police management essay questions. They were also interviewed individually by Mr. Cherches and two different panels. The first panel was made up of 10 professional criminal justice representatives. The second panel represented community interests and was made up of 14 citizens. In addition, each of the candidates’ files were reviewed extensively by the Personnel Department, the Law Department and former Police management.
After extensive interviews, testing and background, there was still very little that separated the candidates except the breadth of experience, according to Mr. Cherches.
"Having outstanding and qualified individuals like Norman, Terri and Steve is good for the community, but made the selection most difficult for me," Mr. Cherches said.
The City extends a heartfelt "thank you" to Major John Hershberger, who took on the duties of Acting Police Chief as this process was underway.