After receiving results from a community survey with over 250 respondents, the City of Issaquah has initiated recruiting for its next Police Chief. The Police Chief position will remain open until filled, and the goal is to have the position filled by this spring.

Priorities for the next Issaquah Police Chief includes having experience implementing 21^st century policing principles; holds officers accountable to policies and high professional standards; and seeks solutions to underlying causes of criminal activity.

Challenges the upcoming Police Chief will focus on consist of enhancing regional reputation and collaboration with other regional law enforcement agencies and ensuring training and career development needs of new personnel.

Community survey results

In terms of Police Chief qualifications:

• 58.7% of respondents favored experience implementing 21^st century policing principles, such as community-oriented policing, crisis intervention and de-escalation, and tech savviness.
• 54.7% of respondents favored experience as a Chief or other command-level position.
• 50.4% of respondents favored a documented track record of building relationships in the community.

Characteristics the community is looking for in the next Police Chief:

• 73.2% of respondents would like someone who is trustworthy, honest, and forthright.
• 46.5% of respondents would like a Police Chief who is accountable.
• 37% of respondents would like for the next Police Chief to be approachable and accessible.

The top three actions respondents would like to see the next Police Chief focus on are:

• Seeks solutions to the underlying causes of criminal activity, such as poverty and mental health (55.5%).
• Enhances police training around mental health, de-escalation, and cultural sensitivity (54.3%).
• Focuses on property crime (53.1%).

Favored leadership and management styles include:

• Holding officers accountable to policies and high professional standards (61%).
• Collaboratively partnering with community and other leaders (51.6%).
• Commitment to transparency and proactively communicates (48%).

Community engagement skills preferred by respondents are:

• Listens and incorporates community concerns into police operations (63.8%).
• Trains and empowers all officers to engage in community (58.7%).
• Highly visible and active in the community, both professionally and personally (40.6%).

Initial applications for the Issaquah Police Chief position will be reviewed starting on April 9. Click here to view the full survey results.