City Manager Curt Walton announced today that three finalists from a candidate pool of 47 applicants have been selected for consideration as the next Chief of Police for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
The Chief of Police serves as the leader and director of CMPD, which has been recognized as a national leader and innovator in policing. The Police Chief leads a department of more than 2,100 employees, with 1,638 sworn officers and 468 civilian positions, and manages a $174 million budget. CMPD has focused efforts on making Charlotte-Mecklenburg a safer place by establishing problem-solving partnerships and expanding police services.
Finalists were recruited and selected through a comprehensive process managed by The Waters Consulting Group that included national advertising and Web site recruitment page in addition to public input into the development of a Police Chief profile; focus groups with CMPD Command Staff, community and business leaders; elected officials surveys; assessments; panel interviews and site visits.
With experience ranging from 22 years to 28 years in policing, law enforcement, administration, operations and technology, the finalists for CMPD Chief of Police are:
- Deputy Chief Jerry Sennett, Deputy Chief of CMPD: a consolidated city-county department, he is responsible for several different divisions, including Support Services and Field Services. Sennett supervises service area majors, who oversee such specialized units as the Transit Policing Unit, Special Events, Secondary Employment and the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Law Enforcement. He implemented COMPSTAT, a system for managing police operations by pinpointing locations, methods and perpetrators of crime, allowing CMPD to improve service throughout its 13 patrol districts. Sennett was promoted to Deputy Chief in 2004. He joined CMPD in 1979.
- Deputy Police Chief Alan Dreher, Atlanta Police Department: Dreher is responsible for the daily operations of the largest municipal law enforcement agency in the State of Georgia. Since 2002, he has managed the Criminal Investigations Division, Field Operations, Support Services, the Division of Taxicabs and Vehicles for Hire and the Field Inspections Section. Prior to working in Atlanta, he served 23 years with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department where he rose to the rank of Deputy Chief, during which he was responsible for police service at Capitol Hill, The White House, and the Downtown District.
- Police Chief Rodney Monroe, Richmond Police Department: Since 2004, Monroe has served as Police Chief of the City of Richmond where he created a dedicated homicide unit and started the Cooperative Violence Reduction Partnership (CVRP) with prosecutorial and correctional agencies. During his tenure as Police Chief, homicides were reduced by 33 percent. He began his policing career in 1979 as a police officer with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, rising to Assistant Chief of Police, the department’s second highest sworn rank. He also served as Chief of Police in Macon, GA for five years.
The new Chief of Police will be named before June 1, 2008.