What are officials looking for in a new West Palm Beach police chief?

A nationwide search is currently underway to succeed former West Palm Beach Police Chief Frank Adderley.

Adderley was fired on Tuesday morning, with Mayor Keith James citing financial irregularities among other reasons for his dismissal.

In this address to the media, James said, led by Adderley: standards were not met. In the meantime, Col. Tony Araujo is the interim chief of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, but he will not be considered for a permanent position. So this begs the question, what are officials looking for in West Palm Beach’s new chief police officer?

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To get to the bottom of this, WPTV’s Michael Hoffman spoke with Andrew Scott, former Boca Raton Police Chief.

He told Hoffman that many factors go into the selection process. He said whether the department hires an outside headhunter or conducts the search itself, it will consider a number of factors, from law enforcement education, previous experience and training, to reputation with previous similarly sized agencies. However, Scott said one of the most important aspects of the position is the new candidate’s ability to build trust with the community.

“They will want to touch, see and feel the chief,” Scott said. – And the boss must be available. Accessibility means that the community will believe that the person means what he says, will do what he says, and will listen.”

WPTV reached out to the mayor’s office regarding the requirements and timeline for the hiring process, but has not yet received a response.

We’ll let you know when we know more.

More WPTV coverage of the West Palm Beach Police Department: :

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