Saturday, November 21, 2009

ONGOING COVERAGE: POLICE CHIEF SEARCH

Closed meeting with finalists open to some

From Staff Reports
July 11, 2006

Along with their public events, the four candidates for Spokane’s next police chief met with members of the department Monday morning in a session that was closed to the public – or at least most of it.

Candidates Bruce Roberts, Roger Peterson, Anne Kirkpatrick and Linda Eschenfelder Pierce were scheduled to answer questions from police department members during a 9 a.m. meeting in the Champions Room of the Spokane Arena. A Spokesman-Review reporter was told to leave before the meeting started.

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“This is a closed, department meeting,” said Mike Shea, city Human Resources director. “It’s for the department, for them to have good interaction with their potential boss.”

The audience also included two children with one officer, a wife with another, and Marty Dickinson of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, a local business group. Asked why they could attend a closed meeting, Shea said those people could stay, but the general public could not.

Spouses and family members were acceptable, he said, and the officer brought his children because he apparently had trouble finding day care. Dickinson is on the city’s selection team for a new police chief, he added.