Recent community meetings have explored what Durham citizens seek in a replacement for ousted police chief Jose Lopez. Most agree it would be a nice change of pace to have a leader who doesn’t double down when faced with criticism; who confronts racial profiling within the ranks; and who can maybe do something about the rising crime rates in Durham.
Yesterday, the search firm tasked with finding a replacement for Lopez released a job description for the position. You can peep the full job ad here, but it’s long. Here are the highlights:
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*The city is searching for a “transformative and visionary leader with a focus on community engagement as well as increasing trust and partnerships.” Yep, trust, sounds good.
*Durham’s violent crime rate was up 15 percent for 2014 and 16 percent in 2015 – and there were nearly twice as many homicides in 2015 (42) as in 2014 (22). A pretty big problem! The ad notes: “This is a crucial challenge the chief will be faced with and must play a vital role in working across the community to problem solve, collaborate and create partnerships. The chief is expected to play a visible and proactive role in the criminal justice system to create a path for the Durham Police Department to be a leader in building trust and relationships to create effective responses to reduce this statistic.”
*The new chief will lead a department of “approximately 512 sworn and 116 non-sworn employees with an annual budget of $56 million.”
*The new chief will likely make somewhere in the $130,000-$140,000 range, depending on experience.
*Plus: 11-12 paid holidays a year, 12 standard work days of vacation per year, and 12 standard work days of sick leave per year.
*You gotta have 20 years of experience as a police officer to be considered. Sorry, militiamen!
Interested parties must apply by February 1. Semi-finalists will be invited to come to Durham at the end of February for additional interviews.
