Panel pares list to six ‘very good’ chief candidates

The Port Washington Police and Fire Commission whittled a field of 15 applicants to become the city’s police chief to six “very good” candidates during a closed session Monday, Chairman Jim Biever said.

The candidates include one applicant from within the department, with the remainder coming from within Wisconsin, “many from southeastern Wisconsin,” he said

“I think they’re all good candidates, at least on paper,” Biever said.

Biever said some of the candidates have experience as a chief while others have command experience, something required by the commission.

The commission last month extended the deadline for applications to Sept. 11.

“We’ve got some good choices in there,” Biever said last month, noting that candidates came from communities large and small. “But we want to make sure we’ve advertised in all avenues and reached everyone we can.”

Biever said Monday that of the 15 applicants, “we have determined that eight individuals have the qualifications we were looking for.”

Biever said the commission hopes to interview the candidates in mid-October, potentially narrowing the field to three or four finalists, then holding a second interview with the finalists.

The goal, he said, is to have a new chief in place by Jan. 1.

“We realize it’s a tight schedule with everything that needs to go on,” Biever said. “The Police and Fire Commission is working toward one goal, that being to find the best possible police chief to lead our department in the future.”

The new chief will replace Kevin Hingiss, who had led the department since 2012 and in mid-May abruptly announced he was retiring on June 15 to take a job in the private sector.

Since Hingiss retired, the department has been led by Captain Craig Czarnecki, who was named interim chief by the commission in June.