Comments on: Four finalists for Police Chief

By: Podcast: Mark Taylor, Northfield’s new Police Chief - Locally Grown

Podcast: Mark Taylor, Northfield’s new Police Chief - Locally Grown — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:16:51 +0000

[...] reported last night in a comment to our blog by John Thomas, Northfield Police Captain Mark Taylor was named our new police chief by approval of the City [...]

By: Ross Currier

Ross Currier — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:12:49 +0000

I met Captain Mark Taylor for the first time at a recent Block Head Gathering http://nddc.org/weblog/post/1095/ and was impressed with what seemed to me to be a balanced approach to issues.

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:48:14 +0000

Thanks, John. I’ve heard that most officers were hoping Taylor would be selected.

By: John S. Thomas

John S. Thomas — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:07:25 +0000

Story also posted on Northfield News:
http://northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=22442

By: John S. Thomas

John S. Thomas — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:05:48 +0000

KARE 11 just announced that Captain Taylor has been selected as our new chief of police on the 10 PM newscast.

By: Scott Oney

Scott Oney — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:18:33 +0000

Stephanie: My understanding is that Taylor and Roger Schroeder have the same rank, but Schroeder is the acting chief. They’re not into grandstanding, so unless you pore over every Police Log in the Northfield News and check the Rice County jail list (http://www.co.rice.mn.us/uploadedcontent/jaillist.pdf) obsessively, you probably wouldn’t have noticed, but they are quietly putting the squeeze on local crime.

By: Stephanie Henriksen

Stephanie Henriksen — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:52:53 +0000

Is Taylor our interim chief? Has he made a dent in the crime scene here in the past 6 months or so? Vandalism, etc? Can we judge him on that or find out how well staff have been faring under his direction?

By: Scott Oney

Scott Oney — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:15:24 +0000

And yet, according to the Strib, Lee Edwards is still the top candidate for the job as Northfield’s top cop. If a highly paid consultant, city administrator Al Roder, our city fathers, and two panels of distinguished though unnamed citizens were somehow successful in not seeing anything wrong with Edwards, it’s good enough for me! Whatever it is he did, I’m sure he didn’t do it, or if he did, it must have been one hundred percent consensual.

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:17:43 +0000

Posted to the Strib at 1:20 pm: 2 Minneapolis cops relieved of duty. One of them is a finalist for the Northfield chief job, Lt. Lee Edwards.

By: Curt Benson

Curt Benson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:01:31 +0000

….how about waterboarding?

By: David Ludescher

David Ludescher — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:51:08 +0000

My understanding is that they can’t be required to take the test as a condition of employment. But, I am not aware of anything that prevents them from voluntarily agreeing to take the test.

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:38:19 +0000

In a previous Nfld News article, Suzi Rook wrote that the candidates would be given lie-detector tests. I've since been told by a local police officer that this would be illegal.

Anyone know fer shure?

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:33:13 +0000

In today’s Nfld News: Council may select new police chief Monday.

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:05:33 +0000

Gerald Mines has been eliminated from consideration, according to this article in today's Nfld News: Three candidates remain for chief. Next up: testing and more background checks.

The three men will now be tested on their management and leadership capabilities by Personnel Decisions International, a firm that has previously assisted the city during personnel searches. And, they'll be backgrounded more intensely. Every aspect of their lives will be scrutinized and they will be given lie detector tests.

By: Tracy Davis

Tracy Davis — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:28:51 +0000

Jaci Smith of the Northfield News has a piece on the Thursday event, Police Chief Candidates Meet Northfield

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:10:25 +0000

I had another commitment but was there for a while at the Grand. I did get to ask Mr. Mines about his 15-day stint as police commissioner in Mt. Vernon, New York. He said he resigned because of a health problem of one of his siblings. He seemed somewhat surprised when I mentioned I had heard via the Internet of the over 800 gang arrests in Bed Stuy he was involved in, so perhaps he is not a googler. (He did ask about a “fellow who has a website” that he had heard about, but had to ask another candidate for Griff’s name.) He did agree he thought he could handle Northfield’s graffiti problem.
I was impressed with Lee Edwards, who really had done his homework, as others have mentioned. He recognized one of the contributors to Locallygrown by name and talked about what had been said in that discussion thread, also recognized a local news person in the room and talked amiably about his years in Northfield in the 1980s.
Yes, the event was superficial, not designed for long, pointed conversations but it was useful, I think, and I wish I had been able to stay longer. I hope the comment cards are not just “pro forma” and, as has been suggested, the selection has already been made. Let’s hope that view is incorrect.

By: Scott Oney

Scott Oney — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:25:54 +0000

Britt (#37): I’m guessing that at this point you have a much better idea of how the selection process is going than I do. At least it sounds like you stayed longer at the reception last Thursday than I did. Do you see anyone emerging as a front-runner? Have you been able to pick up on who in town is representing any of the candidates, at least informally?

The selection process this time around reminds me a lot of the one almost 10 years ago, except that I think the meet-and-greet was held at the Archer House for that one. Does anyone remember? I think a pretty strong contingent emerged in favor of Gary G., but I can’t remember who or why. It was probably covered in the Northfield News at the time.

By: Jane Moline

Jane Moline — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:13:43 +0000

I went last night as well and I was impressed by the open house and the opportunity to meet the candidates.

I was impressed by all four but thought the top 2 were Andy & Lee (Lakeville and Minneapolis.)

I ate some of the food and it was good. I thought this was a very nice way to let some of the townies get a look at the candidates but not a conducive atmosphere to interviewing them–since that was not the intention, I thought it went well.

By: Britt Ackerman

Britt Ackerman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:38:53 +0000

I made an appearance last night as well. I thought the open house was a good idea, and had an opportunity to meet three of the four candidates. Each got to make a short speech to tell us about themselves.

The candidates and their wives were given yellow corsages so us townfolk could spot them out of the crowd and not waste our time introducing ourselves to other, unimportant townies. Kind of a wierd touch, but functional I guess.

I’ve got my favorite candidate picked out. It was a good opportunity to hobnob with all the regular locals on the city’s dime, so I had a good time.

By: Scott Oney

Scott Oney — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:25:48 +0000

Stephanie (#35): I was there last night, but only for about a half hour. It was really kind of awkward; I felt sorry for all of the candidates for being put through such an ordeal. There they were, four guys all trying for the same job, crammed together in a confined space, trying not to look at each other. If I were an applicant and walked into something like that, I’d probably turn right around and leave. So good for them, I guess, if they were able to stick it out.

It didn’t seem like the time or place to ask any meaningful questions, either. Three of the candidates were there with their wives, the bar was open, and there was a pile of food that looked good (I didn’t take any), so it seemed that any serious talk would bring down the mood. I just introduced myself to the candidate I like the best, talked for about a minute and a half, and left.

I’ve been curious about the community members that will be interviewing the candidates. I did my best to find out who they are, but didn’t come up with much. Al Roder and Elizabeth Wheeler, the city’s human resources director, where at the reception, and I asked them. I think they know, but they’re not talking. They eventually said something about data privacy or something, but it sounded bogus to me. After all, people on the Human Rights and Library Commissions have their names published in newsletters, and the legal notices in the Northfield News list every teacher that’s coming or going at the high school. But the city may be treating the interviewers more like a jury panel. I hope they at least introduce themselves to the candidates; it would be pretty creepy if they try to remain anonymous and show up wearing ski masks or something.