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Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will start police chief search after April elections

The mayor said through a spokesperson that she wants to “ensure early input” from City Council members as she works to pick the next chief.
 
Mayor Jane Castor, in center, announced during a Feb. 8 news conference that she had selected Mary O’Connor, second from left, as her pick for the new police chief. Also pictured is Assistant Chief Lee Bercaw and then-interim police Chief Mary O’Connor Ruben “Butch” Delgado. Bercaw is now the interim chief after O'Connor resigned in December and Delgado has since retired. Castor says she will begin the search for the next chief "in earnest" after the city's runoff election on April 25.
Mayor Jane Castor, in center, announced during a Feb. 8 news conference that she had selected Mary O’Connor, second from left, as her pick for the new police chief. Also pictured is Assistant Chief Lee Bercaw and then-interim police Chief Mary O’Connor Ruben “Butch” Delgado. Bercaw is now the interim chief after O'Connor resigned in December and Delgado has since retired. Castor says she will begin the search for the next chief "in earnest" after the city's runoff election on April 25. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published Jan. 30, 2023

It has been nearly two months since Tampa Mayor Jane Castor accepted police Chief Mary O’Connor’s resignation after O’Connor flashed her badge during a traffic stop in Pinellas County and asked a sheriff’s deputy to let her and her husband go.

It likely will be several more months before Castor picks the next chief.

Castor’s plan is to begin the search “in earnest” after the city’s runoff election on April 25 “to ensure early input” from City Council members, said her spokesperson, Adam Smith. Castor will likely start interviewing search firms before the city’s general election on March 7, Smith said.

Castor has cited another reason for the timing.

In a meeting with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board last week, the mayor noted the police department is about to embark on a “redeployment” that will return the department to a geographically-focused approach to policing. In this “zone ownership” model, teams are assigned to specific parts of the city and are responsible for everything that happens in those areas, whether it’s replacing a floodlight or investigating a robbery or homicide, Castor said.

Castor said the transition will be “disruptive” to the department in the short term.

“That has to be implemented and it’s going to take a month or two for that to level out,” she said.

Related: What’s next for Tampa’s police department? Mayor Castor starts from scratch.

Castor is on the March ballot but is expected to easily win a second term and make the decision on the next chief. Her only challenger is a write-in candidate.

Six of the seven City Council members are up for reelection, however, and the seventh council member, Lynn Hurtak, will be on the ballot for the first time after the council voted last year to appoint her to the District 3 seat in the wake of John Dingfelder’s resignation. Just one of those races is already settled: Council member Luis Viera did not draw an opponent for the District 7 seat. Five of the other six races have three or more candidates and could carry over to the April 25 runoff ballot. Runoffs are held when one candidate in a field of three or more does not receive a majority of the votes.

Castor said the Police Executive Research Forum, also known as PERF, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police are among the organizations she’s considering to conduct the search. Castor’s predecessor Bob Buckhorn picked PERF to conduct a search in 2017 after police Chief Eric Ward retired but ultimately called off the search and hired then-interim Chief Brian Dugan. About 60 candidates had submitted applications.

Castor’s pick for chief must be confirmed by a majority of the City Council. After announcing in February that she’d picked O’Connor from three finalists, the mayor drew criticism, including from some City Council members, who said the search and selection process lacked transparency and community input. O’Connor was also a controversial selection and barely won council confirmation.

City Council members who spoke to the Times for this story said they understood the rationale for waiting until April.

“I think that’s a fair way of doing it,” said Council member Charlie Miranda. “That way whoever is elected to council has some input.”

Hurtak agreed but said it’s also disappointing the department will have to deal with months more of uncertainty at the top. Hurtak noted the department has had three chiefs since Dugan retired in 2021.

“So while I understand her rationale and it does make sense, I’m glad to hear that she is going to start interviewing the firms soon so that once April comes, she can hit the ground running with that search,” Hurtak said. “I hope it doesn’t take six more months.”

Viera said he favors hiring someone local for the job.

“I have always believed that a local search is something that will probably yield the best candidates because it’s best, in my opinion, to have someone who knows the city well and who’s familiar with the communities in this city as opposed to somebody from Dallas, Portland or Miami or wherever it may be,” Viera said.

Council member Guido Maniscalco said he would be willing to forgo the required time and expense of a national search if a qualified member of the department is interested in the job.

“The police chief job is one of the most important, if not the most important, within the city structure and I would personally want somebody who knows the community and who people are familiar with,” he said.

Council Chairperson Joe Citro said he supports conducting a national search but would prefer hiring from within the department. His first choice, Ruben “Butch” Delgado, is no longer with the agency.

Delgado, a former assistant chief who Castor tapped to serve as interim chief after Dugan retired, was one of three finalists last time and was the preferred choice for some council members and many in the community. Delgado retired in July to take a private sector job and told the Times after O’Connor resigned that he wasn’t ready to comment on whether he has interest in the chief job.

After O’Connor resigned, Castor tapped Lee Bercaw, one of O’Connor’s two assistant chiefs, to serve as interim chief.

Related: Meet Lee Bercaw, Tampa’s new acting police chief

Bercaw said in a statement to the Times on Friday that he’s still mulling the decision to apply.

“As my nearly 27 years of service will hopefully display, I love the Tampa Police Department, and the stability and continued success of the organization is my greatest priority,” Bercaw said. “I plan to carefully evaluate the decision to apply. For now, I don’t want my decision to take away from the more immediate needs of the department, such as ensuring a safe Gasparilla season.”

Council member Bill Carlson said he hopes Castor and her administration will do a better job keeping the council and the city informed and engaged.

The search, Carlson said, “needs to be an open, transparent process and if the community overwhelmingly wants or doesn’t want somebody this time, listen to that.”