City of Lubbock to begin search for new police chief in the next few weeks
Published: Sat, 01/13/24
City of Lubbock to begin search for new police chief in the next few weeks
everythingLubbock.com
by: Kamryn Mendoza
Posted:
LUBBOCK, Texas— Months after former police chief Floyd Mitchell resigned in September 2023, the City of Lubbock’s city manager, Jarrett Atkinson, is in search of a new permanent replacement.
Atkinson said he, along with a professional firm and recruiter, has
been working on a recruitment brochure for applicants interested in the position.
“We have the recruiting brochure nearly finished,” Atkinson said.”I expect that’ll be released to the public here in about two weeks and then we will be off to the races.”
The brochure is a glimpse of what the Lubbock Police Chief has to offer to those applying.
“These recruiting brochures are going to talk about what Lubbock looks like, What’s our history, Why would you want to be here,” Atkinson said. “Kind of the second part of that brochure, It’s going to talk a bit about what our department is.”
Atkinson said the department has a lot to offer in resources after the city has invested in public safety.
“We’ve got three new patrol stations, we have a brand new headquarters building…451 sworn positions, nearly 130 civilian positions, just under a $91 million annual budget,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson talked about what they are looking for in their candidates.
“I want to see a visionary candidate, obviously, we want to see a proven track record. Doesn’t necessarily have to be from a same size city, but similar,” Atkinson said. “Texas has some very unique laws, what we call Texas local civil service, got to have some experience with that.”
They’re also hoping this chief not only invests time into utilizing resources provided to benefit citizens but also invests in the community.
“We’re really looking for that person that will be engaged with the department, engaged with the community, with our leadership, select your elected officials from throughout the community, somebody that can take the resources that are available to the department and that’s both in terms of the people and the funding and put those dollars to work, put people to work in the best manner possible, to produce the best benefit for all of us as citizens,” said Atkinson.
Atkinson also discussed the process once the job opening is posted in a few weeks. He said the recruiter and their firm will start out with a large pool of candidates.
Atkinson said they have received calls about the position already, but he said everyone will have to apply through the process regardless of whether they are in the department or not.
“They produce a process that puts all candidates on an equal footing and they go through the same series of questions and interviews, and as you go, that pool begins to get narrowed down until you get to your finalist and everybody will have the same opportunity,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said the average time the process takes to find the new chief usually takes about 4-5 months, but they are hoping to find the new Lubbock police chief in 3-4 months.