FORT PIERCE\u2013The Fort Pierce City Commission appeared split Monday over whether at least one local applicant should be added to the three, out-of-state finalists to become the city\u2019s next chief of police.<\/p>\n
But tonight\u2019s public \u201cmeet and greet\u201d at the River Walk Center will include just the three finalists named by City Manager Richard Chess, despite support from Mayor Linda Hudson and District 2 Commissioner Michael Broderick to add interim deputy chief Caleb Gillette, a career Fort Pierce officer, to the list of finalists.<\/p>\n
District 1 Commissioners Arnold Gaines and Curtis Johnson Jr. disagreed, saying they\u2019ve heard privately from some local officers who want \u201csomeone to break up the cliques in the department\u201d but who \u201cfear retaliation\u201d if they speak out publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Caleb is the best choice, I\u2019m fine with it,\u201d Gaines said. \u201cBut I have to listen to other officers coming to me saying no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillette, a native of Fort Pierce, has been endorsed for the job by three local police unions and has garnered significant local support on social media.<\/p>\n
Gaines and Johnson also said they opposed suggestions that commission action to ratify Chess\u2019 final hiring recommendation be delayed until February when a fifth commissioner will fill an existing District 2 vacancy.<\/p>\n
Public comment Monday night was universally supportive of adding at least one of the three local officers who were among Chess\u2019 initial seven semi-finalists for the job. They included Gillette, FPPD Major Eric Chan and St. Lucie County Deputy Sheriff Milo Thornton.<\/p>\n
Chess\u2019 three finalists who will meet the public tonight before having final interviews are Vernon L. Hale III, of Aubrey, TX; Mirtha V. Ramos, of Decatur, GA; and David M. Smith, of Dumfries, VA. Each has 24 years or more of law enforcement experience, according to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to interview him (Gillette) and I think having a fifth city commissioner (participate in the hiring vote) is critical,\u201d Broderick said. \u201cThe outcry in the community speaks volumes to me; his base of support is massive and it\u2019s not bridged by race or creed. We need to take another look at this gentleman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson agreed, saying the resumes of the three finalists \u201care impressive\u201d but passing over local applicants sends the message to existing officers seeking promotions that they are \u201cnot good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not going to hire a local person, we better have a damn good reason,\u201d Hudson said. \u201c…I\u2019m concerned about the stepping stone effect here\u201d (that external candidates may use the Fort Pierce job to build a resume to move on).<\/p>\n
Gaines said he was \u201cticked off\u201d that the chief discussion was added to the agenda by Broderick at the beginning of the meeting, saying more people would have attended had it been on the pre-published agenda.<\/p>\n
Commission agendas regularly allow members to add or delete items at the time of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Neither Gaines nor Johnson cited specific internal departmental issues alluded to in their comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something going on in our police department,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI don\u2019t know who can solve it. Someone has to come in and call balls and strikes on issues and make some tough decisions in that police department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fort Pierce\u2019s last police chief, Diane Hobley-Burney, resigned under pressure in May after department employees issued a statement of \u201clost confidence\u201d in her leadership. She had been chief for 10 years.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the city charter grants specific roles to both the city manager and the commission when it comes to hiring Fort Pierce\u2019s police chief.<\/p>\n
The city manager is tasked with recommending his or her choice for police chief, a position that reports directly to them.<\/p>\n
But the final hiring must first be approved by the city commission which currently has four members, allowing for a possible tie vote.<\/p>\n
Each commissioner is scheduled to meet privately with the finalists this week ahead of Chess\u2019 plan to recommend a candidate for hiring at the next commission meeting Monday at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s chance for the public to informally meet and talk to Hale, Ramos and Smith is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the River Walk Center, 600 N. Indian River Dr.<\/p>\n
A city has released this statement on the backgrounds of the three finalists:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Vernon L. Hale III brings three decades of law enforcement experience. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Phoenix and holds a master of science in criminal justice from the University of North Texas. Hale previously served as chief of police for the Galveston Police Department in Texas and as assistant chief of police for the Prince George\u2019s County Police Department in Maryland.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Mirtha V. Ramos has 28 years of law enforcement experience. She earned a master of professional studies in psychology of leadership from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Lynn University. Ramos served as division chief with the Miami-Dade Police Department and later as chief of police for the DeKalb County Police Department in Georgia.<\/p>\n
\u2022 David M. Smith brings 24 years of experience in law enforcement and holds advanced degrees in executive leadership and criminal justice education. Smith previously served as commander of the personnel bureau for the Prince William County Police Department in Virginia and currently serves as commander of Eastern District operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE\u2013The Fort Pierce City Commission appeared split Monday over whether at least one local applicant should be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-67969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","11":"tag-st_lucie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}