Chief of Police Search

[Colleen Pate]

Council,

You will soon receive, if you haven’t already, a News Flash regarding the City Manager’s search for Austin’s next Chief of Police. Included in that is an estimated timeline for completing the process. The City Manager, working with Mosaic Public Partners, will be narrowing the list of applicants to top candidates who, in turn, will be interviewed by several stakeholder panels. Shortly thereafter, finalists will be given the opportunity to meet with all of us and participate in a public community meet and greet event.

Feedback from the panels, from us, and from the general public will help inform the City Manager’s decision for his recommendation of a final candidate. As a reminder, it is within the City Manager’s purview to appoint the Chief of Police with confirmation by the City Council, as per Section 143.013 of our Local Government Code which states: (a) Unless elected, each department head is: (1) appointed by the municipality’s chief executive and confirmed by the municipality’s governing body.

I hope you join me in looking forward to the opportunity to meet with the finalists next month and having a top candidate for our consideration of confirmation relatively soon.

Thanks,
Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson