NLV’s chief conundrum: From without or within?

By Mike Trask

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 | 2 a.m.

As North Las Vegas, for the second time in six years, finds itself in need of a new police chief, the city once again confronts a thorny issue: whether to promote a career cop from within the department or to select from the talent available nationwide.

The conundrum, one faced by police departments across the country, has no easy answer, experts say.

“Neither is better,” said Wendy Balazik, a spokeswoman at the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “It just depends on the community.”

No nationwide group tracks the percentage of police department heads promoted from within versus those hired following wide searches. But the IACP often hears about the issue.

“My sense is a majority of departments promote from within,” said Kim Kohlhepp, the group’s manager of testing services. “Most departments promote from within at every level until you get to the chief.”

The last time it searched for a new police chief, North Las Vegas hired Mark Paresi from the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon. Paresi left the city at the end of the year with a $49,500 severance package.

Paresi, hired after a national search, took over the department following a call from residents and politicians for a focus on community policing in the wake of growing gang violence along the North Las Vegas-Las Vegas border.

Internal strife and police union dissatisfaction led to Paresi’s departure. Many in the 870-person department were said to have been upset that Paresi hired high-ranking officers from out of town rather than promoting from within.

The story echoes one on the other side of the valley two years ago.

In 2005, Henderson hired Alan Kerstein as its new police chief after a national search. Seven months later he resigned. By all accounts he never quite fit in with the department, facing personal and professional resistance, including a controversy over his plan to change the color of police badges.

After he quit, longtime Henderson Police Officer Richard Perkins was tapped to fill the vacancy. The department seems to have run smoothly since.

“They are prime examples that external searches are not always working,” said Terry McAllister, president of the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association. “Those (situations) are viable reasons against going outside.”

The inside-versus-outside hiring debate has strong arguments on both sides. Proponents of regional or nationwide searches argue they are the only way to ensure that a police department hires the best possible person available, as opposed to simply the best person available within the department. In addition, when a department is seen as needing reform or a shift in direction, a newcomer often is better positioned to deliver it than someone from within whose ties to existing personnel and policies can impede necessary changes.

Advocates of promoting from within, however, contend that a chief who has come up through the ranks is more likely to have the confidence and support of his officers than an outsider, at least initially. Similarly, being rooted in a department’s traditions, they argue, need not be a detriment, because there is value in drawing on personal history to assess what might work — or not work — in moving it forward.

In North Las Vegas’ case, McAllister is not alone in pushing for the nation’s fastest-growing city to hire its law enforcement leader from inside. At least two city councilmen agree with the union.

“There’s people on the inside who can do just as good of a job as anyone from the outside,” said Councilman Robert Eliason. “I think history has shown its face with the last chief.”

Councilman William Robinson said he pushed to promote from within the last time the city was searching for a chief.

“You got guys on the force we’ve spent all kinds of money on for training,” he said. “To say they are unqualified, we might as well fire them. In a few weeks if you hire from outside you’re going to have the same problems you have now.”

But hiring from the outside remains a possibility. City Manager Gregory Rose has tapped a California-based recruitment company to help scour the nation for police chief candidates. That search is expected to cost about $25,000.

The city also has placed advertisements in several national police publications. The deadline for applications is March 7.

Rose said he expects some internal applicants.

“I think it boils down to what’s in the best interest of the community and getting the most qualified person,” he said. “No matter who is selected we will get the best applicant. It should be comforting to the community to know we are getting the best available.”

Or maybe not, some say.

“I keep trying to stress that our internal candidates have something that no one from the outside has: loyalty and respect,” McAllister said.

Several residents, including Dick Sadler, a member of the city’s Civil Service Board, and Richard Cherchio, the leader of a homeowners group, have spoken at public forums in favor of promoting from within.

Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said she’s staying out of the hiring process. That’s the city manager’s job, she said.

“He’s the one who hires and fires,” Smith said. “It’s his decision and he’s doing his job. I trust Gregory to stay out of the politics and make the decision. If the most qualified person is within the department I’m sure they will be hired.”