LANSING, Mich. — It’s been two months since Daryl Green left his position as Lansing police chief. The city is on the hunt for his replacement, but city officials say they want the public’s input first.
“I look for someone who is interested in working with the community,” said Lansing Mayor Andy Schor. “I look for someone who understands that this is a 24/7 job and for someone who is always actively working with my office and working with different divisions within the department.”
Schor is already thinking about the qualities he’s looking for in Lansing’s next police chief. He said it’s important that this person is ready to protect and serve the city the right way and that they’ll have some pretty big shoes to fill.
“When I came in, Mike Yankowski was police chief and he was great,” Schor said. “Then, when he retired, we promoted Daryl Green because he really was very supported by the community. He had been here for 23 years and had been captain for every division, so we had a very natural person to take that job, and now we want to go out and do a broad search.”
But before the city starts a national search for the next chief, Schor says he wants to get input from residents on what kind of person they want in the position.
“We wanted to make sure to have the most broad input on expectations for our police chief,” he said. “So, the best way to do broad input gathering is to do a survey and make it anonymous so that citizens can provide their input on what they would like to see and expect.”
The survey is now available online in English and Spanish. Residents have about two weeks to submit their answers.
It asks things such as how much the respondents trust Lansing police, about qualifications for the chef and top issues the next chief should address.
“We want to make sure there’s trust among police in the city, and we know that is very difficult, especially with the climate we’ve been in in the last year and a half,” Schor said. “So we need someone who understands that we come from some policing reforms. But the citizens also expect that we have police who keep them safe and responding to some issues as quickly as possible.”
Schor said he wants the next chief to start “by the end of the year, late November, early December, somewhere around there."
Click here to access the survey.
