Hiring a new chief of police appears to be getting closer to reality.
The Yuma Police Department has been without a “permanent” chief since Jerry Thompson resigned last spring. Curtis Witte has filled in as interim chief since, but does not have an interest in taking over the role full time.
The initial search led to four finalists being interviewed last fall. However, the Yuma City Council decided after that to start over.
The council hired the search firm KRW, the same one utilized for the city manager search last year. Mayor Tim McClung told the council during last week’s regular meeting that KRW has resumés from eight applicants. The search firm has conducted online interviews, each lasting about 30 minutes, and the interviews and resumés.
The council held a special meeting this past Tuesday evening to watch the interviews and go over the resumés in executive session.
McClung said the plan is to come up with two or three finalists, and bring them to Yuma for interviews before March so the council can hire a chief by next month.