Selma City Council interviews four police chief finalists

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

The Selma City Council moves one step closer to naming the city’s next police chief after interviewing the four finalists for the job Friday afternoon.

The council decided to hold open interviews at the Selma Convention Center because of public interest.

Finalists, Theophilus Smith — Ettice Brickus — Robbie Autery — and Kenny Harden were each asked the same series of questions during the interview.

The topics included improving the public trust — crisis management — recruiting and retaining qualified officers — and the ability to effectively manage a department with limited resources.

About a hundred residents showed up to see and hear the candidates.

“Overall, I think it went well. As a city council, we wanted to make sure that the public had the opportunity to see the candidates,” Council President Kennard Randolph said.

“We could have had a executive session interview with the panelists, but, but we felt that it was of the public interest to have an open public interview process, to allow the public to see who their next police chief could potentially be.”

Randolph says the council will now take some to evaluate each of the finalists — and the city should have a new police chief in September.