FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Frustration is growing in Fort Pierce as the city moves closer to choosing its next police chief and no internal candidates made the final three.<\/p>\n
All three finalists introduced at a community meet-and-greet Tuesday night come from out of state, leaving many residents and some city leaders asking why longtime Fort Pierce officers weren\u2019t advanced in the process, especially during a year marked by low morale and high turnover inside the department.<\/p>\n
The finalists are:<\/p>\n
Vernon Hale, a 30-year law enforcement veteran from Texas<\/p>\n
Dave Smith, a 24-year veteran from Prince William County, Virginia<\/p>\n
Mirtha Ramos, former chief of the DeKalb County Police Department in Georgia<\/p>\n
Dozens filled the River Walk Center Tuesday night to question the candidates directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability to have the show-out of people that have come that\u2019s impressive in its own right,\u201d Resident Kim Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Concerns about longevity and losing local talent<\/p>\n
For many attendees, the top concern was not who is on the list, but who isn\u2019t. Several residents said they worry an outside chief may not stay long enough to make meaningful change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re probably just going to come here, see Fort Pierce, and head out after they earned the chief badge,\u201d Resident Alex Olsen said.<\/p>\n
City Commissioner Michael Broderick voiced similar concerns, saying qualified internal candidates were not advanced to the final round.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have highly skilled, highly talented people on our staff that applied and I have serious reservations about how this process unfolded,\u201d Commissioner Broderick said.<\/p>\n
How the city says these finalists were chosen<\/p>\n
In response to residents\u2019 questions, the City of Fort Pierce outlined how the decision was made.<\/p>\n
According to the city, the finalists were selected through a detailed, nationwide search led by S. Renee Narloch & Associates.<\/p>\n
A seven-member interview committee \u2014 including the City Manager, Deputy City Manager, and two retired Fort Pierce police leaders \u2014 interviewed seven candidates, including two internal officers, before recommending the three finalists.<\/p>\n
The city says the candidates were chosen based on experience, leadership skills, and their long-term vision for the department.<\/p>\n
What the candidates told residents<\/p>\n
During the meet-and-greet, each finalist shared their perspective on the department and the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s my job to be a support and make sure folks get the resources they need,\u201d Candidate Vernon Hale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a city that\u2019s growing, a city that\u2019s transitioning \u2014 and I\u2019d like to be a part of that change,\u201d Candidate Mirtha Ramos said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a police officer for about 24 and a half years proud Army veteran before that,\u201d Candidate Dave Smith said.<\/p>\n
Despite tough questions, including concerns about past outside hires and union support for internal candidates, conversations remained productive.<\/p>\n
What happens next<\/p>\n
The City Manager\u2019s final recommendation will be on December 8th.<\/p>\n
CBS12 News will continue following developments as Fort Pierce moves closer to naming its next police chief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Frustration is growing in Fort Pierce as the city moves closer to choosing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-70007","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70007","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=70007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}