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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.<\/p>\n
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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\u2019s communications director.<\/p>\n
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A recording will be available at Engage Bellingham, along with a feedback survey that can be submitted through Sunday, March 20.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s job. <\/p>\n
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Then each answered five questions that had been submitted by Bellingham residents or were based on comments left at the Engage Bellingham site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese comments have informed the questions that will be asked tonight,\u201d Mayor Seth Fleetwood said during opening remarks.<\/p>\n
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Some of the questions had been condensed or combined with other questions, Monohan said.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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\u25aa <\/span>John DeRousse, deputy chief of the Everett Police Department, who began his 27-year career in law enforcement with the Whatcom County Sheriff\u2019s Office in 1995. He graduated from the FBI National Academy and has a master\u2019s degree in criminology from the University of Cincinnati and a master\u2019s in homeland security science from the Naval Postgraduate School, according to his resume at Linked In, a business networking website.<\/p>\n \u25aa <\/span>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\u2019s degree in law enforcement and public safety leadership.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u25aa <\/span>Rebecca Mertzig, chief of the Stanwood Police Department and a lieutenant in the Snohomish County Sheriff\u2019s 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\u2018s degree in criminal justice from Eastern Washington University, she told The Herald.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n All three candidates expressed support for the department\u2019s motto, \u201cCommitted to community,\u201d and described ways that they would humanize the police force.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTo get trust you have to extend trust,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cSitting behind a desk is a dangerous place to view the world,\u201d Flynn said, and promised that officers under his command would introduce themselves to at least two new people on every duty shift.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSome of the answers are right in front of us. It\u2019s getting cops into the neighborhood. The Police Department can\u2019t do it by itself,\u201d Flynn said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mertzig said she would start with \u201cface-to-face diplomacy\u201d among community members and nurture public and private partnerships across the city.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about linking systems together,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a team approach.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that we tackle these problems together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They praised the city\u2019s GRACE and LEED programs aimed at reducing crime by finding mental health services and substance-abuse treatment programs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two of the applicants \u2014 DeRousse and Mertzig \u2014 have ties to Whatcom County.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor me, this is coming home,\u201d Mertzig said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n DeRousse, Flynn and Mertzig were chosen from 15 applicants to replace Chief David Doll, who retired in January 2021.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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\u2019s special units. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Simon, who was Bellingham\u2019s second Black police officer, has said that she intends to retire in May, and the city\u2019s timeline shows that a new chief will be named in May or June.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Salary range for the position was listed as $162,720 to $196,884 per year plus benefits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nCommunity policing<\/h3>\n
Timeline<\/h3>\n
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