Bellingham police chief candidates in online interview panel

Bellingham-area residents heard from the three candidates for police chief in an online public forum where the applicants answered questions on topics such as accountability, transparency, building public trust and their vision for the Police Department, which faces a staffing crisis amid a sharp rise in crime.

More than 120 people were watching live for at least part of the 90-minute event Thursday evening, March 17, which was hosted by the city and streamed through its Engage Bellingham website, said Janice Keller, the city’s communications director.

A recording will be available at Engage Bellingham, along with a feedback survey that can be submitted through Sunday, March 20.

Elizabeth Monahan, director of the Human Resources Department, moderated what amounted to an open interview panel, as each of the three candidates had five minutes to summarize their careers and discuss why they wanted the chief’s job.

Then each answered five questions that had been submitted by Bellingham residents or were based on comments left at the Engage Bellingham site.

“These comments have informed the questions that will be asked tonight,” Mayor Seth Fleetwood said during opening remarks.

Some of the questions had been condensed or combined with other questions, Monohan said.

Candidates

Fleetwood named the three semifinalists on March 8, after more than a year of searching for a new chief and after rejecting all four finalists amid a nationwide search and an initial round of interviews in June 2021.

▪ John DeRousse, deputy chief of the Everett Police Department, who began his 27-year career in law enforcement with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office in 1995. He graduated from the FBI National Academy and has a master’s degree in criminology from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s in homeland security science from the Naval Postgraduate School, according to his resume at Linked In, a business networking website.

▪ Dennis Flynn, commander of the Commerce City (Colorado) Police Department, who spent 30 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, where he was a lieutenant and leader of the hostage negotiating team and a lieutenant in the robbery-homicide division, according to his resume at Linked In. He has a master’s degree in law enforcement and public safety leadership.

▪ Rebecca Mertzig, chief of the Stanwood Police Department and a lieutenant in the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, where she is using her birth surname, Lewis, because that is how she is professionally known, she told The Bellingham Herald. An 18-year law-enforcement veteran, Mertzig was a member of the Snohomish County Equity and Inclusion Task Force and was Deputy of the Year in 2010. She also earned the FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award for completing an FBI supervisory training course. Mertzig lives in Ferndale, and has a bachelor‘s degree in criminal justice from Eastern Washington University, she told The Herald.

Community policing

All three candidates expressed support for the department’s motto, “Committed to community,” and described ways that they would humanize the police force.

“To get trust you have to extend trust,” said Flynn, who was an officer in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department when it voluntarily sought a U.S. Justice Department review for its use of force record.

“Sitting behind a desk is a dangerous place to view the world,” Flynn said, and promised that officers under his command would introduce themselves to at least two new people on every duty shift.

“Some of the answers are right in front of us. It’s getting cops into the neighborhood. The Police Department can’t do it by itself,” Flynn said.

Mertzig said she would start with “face-to-face diplomacy” among community members and nurture public and private partnerships across the city.

“It’s about linking systems together,” she said. “This is a team approach.”

DeRousse promised collaboration with organizations such as the Lighthouse Mission, Northwest Youth Services and the Opportunity Council to help address social issues such as homelessness and drug addiction.

“It’s important that we tackle these problems together,” he said.

Candidates pledged to bring more diversity to the department, adding incentives and removing barriers to hiring, and recruiting at places such as historically black colleges.

They praised the city’s GRACE and LEED programs aimed at reducing crime by finding mental health services and substance-abuse treatment programs.

Two of the applicants — DeRousse and Mertzig — have ties to Whatcom County.

“For me, this is coming home,” Mertzig said.

Timeline

DeRousse, Flynn and Mertzig were chosen from 15 applicants to replace Chief David Doll, who retired in January 2021.

Chief Flo Simon has been serving as chief in the interim as Fleetwood and the City Council have committed to re-imagine policing in the wake of the 2020 racial justice movement and a staffing crunch that has gutted the Police Department’s special units.

Simon, who was Bellingham’s second Black police officer, has said that she intends to retire in May, and the city’s timeline shows that a new chief will be named in May or June.

Salary range for the position was listed as $162,720 to $196,884 per year plus benefits.

Robert Mittendorf covers civic issues, weather, traffic and how people are coping with the high cost of housing for The Bellingham Herald. A journalist since 1984, he’s also a volunteer firefighter for South Whatcom Fire Authority.