After postponing the Police Chief Candidate Forum to search for additional external finalists, the City of San Jose has announced two new candidates for Police Chief.
The move came after two finalists withdrew from the application process in late January leaving only five candidates in the running for Police Chief. Four out of the five remaining finalists were from the San Jose Police Department with only Piedmont Chief of Police Jeremy Bowers coming from an external source.
In a statement to the City released on Tuesday, City Manager Dave Sykes addressed his reasoning for postponing the process for two weeks.
“The goal of this recruitment has always been to find a diverse candidate pool that includes internal and external perspectives,” said Sykes. “While the internal pool of candidates is very strong, I wanted to see if the external candidate pool could be bolstered to make sure that external perspectives were included in the community process.”
The two additional finalists were selected based on a review of their qualifications, a screening interview, and an evaluation of the candidates’ resumes against the skills and knowledge outlined in the recruitment brochure, according to the statement.
The two additional finalists are Retired Assistant Chief Larry Scirotto from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Chief of Police Justin Doll from Anchorage, Alaska.
With all finalists chosen, the next stage in the recruitment process is the Police Chief Candidate Forum where finalists will make brief opening remarks and answer a series of questions submitted by the community. The City received over 570 survey responses from the community in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese as well as 55 questions to be asked during the Forum. The Forum will be broadcast live on the City’s YouTube page and City-operated streaming video sites.
The forum will begin at 10 am on Saturday, February 13 and is expected to last approximately three hours. For more information on the forum, click here.
Meet the finalists:
Justin Doll – Chief of Police, Anchorage, AK
Chief Justin Doll serves as the Chief of Police for the Anchorage Police Department in Alaska. He joined the Anchorage Police Department as a recruit in 1996 and has served as Chief of Police since June 2017 and. Chief Doll served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves until 2001 and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI National Executive Institute.
Larry Scirotto – Retired Assistant Chief, Pittsburgh, PA
Retired Assistant Chief Larry Scirotto served with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for 23 years. He was one of three assistant chiefs and the youngest assistant chief in the history of the department. Assistant Chief Scirotto. Assistant Chief is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff & Command and is a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Jeremy Bowers – Chief of Police, Piedmont, CA
Chief Bowers started his policing career in 1996 with the San Jose Police Department. He served as a Police Lieutenant for nearly three years and four years as a Sergeant. He became Chief of Police for Piedmont, CA in 2016.
Anthony Mata – Deputy Chief of Police, San Jose, CA
Deputy Chief Mata serves as the San Jose Police Department’s Executive Officer and has 30 years of police experience. He has been a Deputy Chief for over four years and is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Heather Randol – Deputy Chief of Police, San Jose, CA
Deputy Chief Randol has 23 years of experience with the San Jose Police Department. She currently leads the Bureau of Field Operations.
Jason Ta – Police Captain, San Jose, CA
Captain Jason Ta has 20 years of experience with the San Jose Police Department. He currently provides leadership to the Foothill Division in the Bureau of Field Operations. Captain Ta is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
David Tindall – Acting Chief of Police, San Jose, CA
Acting Chief Tindall has 26 years of experience with the San Jose Police Department. For the past six months, Tindall has served as the Acting Assistant Chief of Police and was recently named Acting Chief of Police.