St. Paul now accepting police chief applications, with plans to appoint next chief in late summer or early fall

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
·1 min read

St. Paul officially kicked off the search for a new police chief Thursday, with a job posting that will be open for a month.

Todd Axtell stepped down in the beginning of June after serving a six-year term. Mayor Melvin Carter named Jeremy Ellison, most recently a deputy chief, as the department’s interim chief.

Carter said in early May that he planned to name the next police chief in late summer or early fall. The timeline remains the same, said Kamal Baker, Carter’s press secretary, on Thursday.

The next chief’s starting salary will be $132,000 to $180,000, depending on experience and qualifications, according to the job posting. When St. Paul last searched for a police chief in 2016, the salary range was $114,000 to $161,000.

Minneapolis is also searching for a police chief and the city council approved an increased salary range last week — $257,000 to $300,000.

St. Paul retained AB Strategic Security Group, at a cost of about $43,000, to recruit candidates, review applications and, with the city’s Human Resources Department, advance eligible candidates to the city’s police chief examining committee, which has already been appointed, Baker said.

Applications are due by the end of day on July 22. The examining committee will lead community engagement work, review applications, conduct interviews and recommend five candidates to Carter. He’ll then make his selection of a chief to serve a six-year term.

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