Community Joins City Officials for Webinar to Meet Top Candidates for Chief of Police

Jan. 23, 2021

The City of Albuquerque hosted a community webinar today, providing local residents the opportunity to meet and hear from the top three candidates for Chief of Police.

Harold Medina, Clinton Nichols, and Joseph Sullivan answered a series of questions, allowing participants to hear directly from the candidates on the issues most important to the public.

Opening the forum, Mayor Tim Keller said, “Tackling crime remains our top priority, and we’re looking for a chief to lead that charge, lean into the DOJ reform process and build trust with our community, and build pride and numbers throughout the ranks to bring our department up to full capacity.”

Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair said, “We’re looking for someone who has the energy and endurance to run the marathon we call reform and culture change—a person with the vision and strength to bring out the best in the leadership team and the hundreds of officers serving our city.”

“Community involvement has been a key component to this process every step of the way,” said Herb Crosby, a contracted specialist brought on to assist with the chief search process.  “We’re grateful so many people participated today to hear from the folks who would like to be their next Chief.”

Mr. Crosby, along with City staff conducted over 40 community input sessions and had nearly 2,300 responses to an online survey—hearing directly from the community about the key attributes and qualifications they would like to see in the next Chief of Police. The input garnered was weighed in the process of narrowing down the candidates to these final three.

Roughly 150 people joined the live webinar, and it is available to view here for those who were unable to participate. Community input is encouraged at any stage of the process and you may do so by emailing [email protected].

The next step in the process is to have further discussions with the finalists, while completing their vetting and background checks. At that point, a negotiation will take place with the selected candidate. We’re aiming to make a final decision by March.