City officials will interview its first group of nine candidates who have applied to be the next Columbus Police Chief.
The candidates include law enforcement officials from Detroit, Fort Myers, Dallas, Seattle and Philadelphia among others. The group also includes Perry Tarrant, who was a finalist for the post in 2019. None of the candidates selected for an interview have served within Columbus' police force.
During the last search, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther looked outside the division for the first time and this time around he's signaled he's committed to hiring from outside the department.
The nine candidates who will be interviewed are:
- Elaine Bryant, deputy chief of police in Detroit
- Robert Clark, a former FBI agent, former senior superintendent of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
- Derrick Diggs, chief of police in Fort Myers, Florida and former chief of police in Toledo
- Avery Moore, assistant chief of police in Dallas
- Bryan Norwood, vice president for public safety at Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and former chief of police in Richmond, Virginia
- Ivonne Roman, former chief of police in Newark, New Jersey
- Joseph Sullivan, deputy commissioner of patrol operations in Philadelphia
- Perry Tarrant, former assistant chief of police in Seattle
- David Taylor, FDIC national account manager and former assistant chief of police in Washington D.C.
Former chief Tom Quinlan, selected in 2019 was asked to step down by Ginther in January. Ginther said he asked Quinlan, who is still serving in the police division, to leave the post because he could not successfully implement the reform and change that the community demands.
Columbus city officials asked last month for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Columbus Division of Police.
In a letter to the DOJ, Ginther and Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein asked for an evaluation of CPD’s police reform efforts to determine whether they are sufficient or working. They also asked the department to investigate whether racial disparities exist in CPD that impact things like use of force, discipline and hiring practices.
