City officials narrow down candidates for Naples police chief

Kendall Little, Naples Daily News
Updated ·3 min read
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Naples is getting closer to having a new police chief.

After 15 years with Naples Police, Police Chief Tom Weschler stepped down from his position June 30th. Matthew Fletcher is serving as the interim chief while the city searches for a new full-time police chief.

City officials posted the job listing in May and received 175 applications by the time the listing closed in June. There are now 19 candidates remaining.

What's the process of selecting the police chief?

After the listing closed, the city's human resources staff narrowed the initial pool of 175 applicants to 151 by pulling out the people who didn't meet the minimum job requirements. Naples City Manager Jay Boodheshwar said the HR department filtered the candidates through a second requirements tier and were left with 116 people.

Boodheshwar said the remaining candidates had until June 29 to fill out an online questionnaire.

"We anticipate between 80-90 candidates will complete the video questionnaire, which will be used in conjunction with evaluating their written credentials to further narrow the list," Boodheshwar said.

A team of city employees narrowed down the remainder of the candidates to 19.

The team includes:

  • Jay Boodheshwar - City Manager

  • Gary Young - Deputy City Manager / Chief Financial Officer

  • Mari Gallet - Deputy City Manager

  • Charlotte Loewel - HR Director

  • Phillip Pennington - Fire Chief

"The rest of the process after this point is still being developed but will be designed to ensure those who continue through the rest of the process are extremely qualified and possess the intangibles important to ensure they are the right fit for the City of Naples," Boodheshwar said.

More: Naples police chief announces retirement after more than 14 years on the job

Who is still in the running?

Nineteen of the initial 175 applicants are still in the running. The candidates are from all over the U.S. from New York to Wisconsin. Many have won many awards and all have years of experience in a police department.

Several candidates have experience teaching at colleges alongside their work in a police department. A few lead a university's police department and a couple are retired for now, but are willing to come out of retirement to serve as the police chief in Naples.

Many applicants were in the military early in their careers and one still works with the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Two candidates currently serve in the Miami Beach Police Department.

One candidate, Reo Hatfield, was recommended by the Fort Myers city manager to be the Fort Myers police chief in June, but the city council rejected him with a 4-3 vote.

Are any of the final 19 local?

Current Interim Police Chief Matthew Fletcher is in the final 19 candidates. Fletcher has been part of the Naples Police Department since 1990 when he became a police officer. Fletcher has been a sergeant, lieutenant, and the assistant chief within the department.

Naples resident and former Illinois police chief Kristen Ziman is the only woman left in the running. Ziman was part of the team selected by the U.S. Justice Department to review the police response to the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

What comes next?

The selection team hopes to identify the semifinalists by Aug. 1 and the finalists by Sept. 1. The finalists will go on city tours, be available for meet and greets, and go through final interviews on Sept. 14 and 15.

Boodheshwar hopes to announce the new police chief by Sept. 22.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: City officials narrow down candidates for Naples police chief