More thoughts on Durham police chief search
Ray Gronberg in the Herald-Sun is also reporting that his sources say that Patrick Baker is going to select Jose Lopez as Durham's next police chief. So unless Ray's source is Matt Dees, then i think we can take it as confirmed that Lopez is Patrick Baker's choice.
Which as i've indicated previously, i think is a good thing. We can't know if Lopez is the best of all possible candidates for the job, but of the three finalists, i think he makes the most sense to lead Durham's police force, for several reasons. Not least, of course, is the damage to DPD's reputation as a result of the Duke lacrosse case. Credibility is a key issue. We're already seeing fallout from the case, as grand juries have refused to return several indictments. We can expect to go through a period where every defense lawyer worth his suspenders is going to bring up DPD and the Durham District Attorney's office at every possible moment. Getting beyond that is a pretty important step.
Durham's growing Latino population is another factor. Many Latinos remain isolated, whether by language or other barriers, from the community at large. In the long term, we know that won't be the case, but in the short term, whatever steps we can take to hasten the end of that isolation are welcome.
Of course, if Lopez wasn't qualified for the job, none of that would mean shit, but he is, so we get that as a bonus.
Now, here's the rub, and the reason why i think Patrick Baker needs to get out in front on this issue, and not delay for "another 7 -10 days" in announcing his choice. Under the best case scenario. Baker would have made his choice public after a contract had been agreed and approval by the Council a certainty. Now that this choice has been leaked, we're way beyond best-case scenarios. In fact, it's not hard to game out a number of things that can go wrong between now and say, next Friday. Adn if they do, do you really think it will look good for a second choice candidate to be offered the DPD position. Especially if the second choice is current Deputy Chief Hodge?
No, what is most likely to happen if something goes wrong with the Lopez appointment is that Durham will have to conduct yet another search for a chief. And that scenario is too familiar to contemplate.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the process goes according to plan.
Which as i've indicated previously, i think is a good thing. We can't know if Lopez is the best of all possible candidates for the job, but of the three finalists, i think he makes the most sense to lead Durham's police force, for several reasons. Not least, of course, is the damage to DPD's reputation as a result of the Duke lacrosse case. Credibility is a key issue. We're already seeing fallout from the case, as grand juries have refused to return several indictments. We can expect to go through a period where every defense lawyer worth his suspenders is going to bring up DPD and the Durham District Attorney's office at every possible moment. Getting beyond that is a pretty important step.
Durham's growing Latino population is another factor. Many Latinos remain isolated, whether by language or other barriers, from the community at large. In the long term, we know that won't be the case, but in the short term, whatever steps we can take to hasten the end of that isolation are welcome.
Of course, if Lopez wasn't qualified for the job, none of that would mean shit, but he is, so we get that as a bonus.
Now, here's the rub, and the reason why i think Patrick Baker needs to get out in front on this issue, and not delay for "another 7 -10 days" in announcing his choice. Under the best case scenario. Baker would have made his choice public after a contract had been agreed and approval by the Council a certainty. Now that this choice has been leaked, we're way beyond best-case scenarios. In fact, it's not hard to game out a number of things that can go wrong between now and say, next Friday. Adn if they do, do you really think it will look good for a second choice candidate to be offered the DPD position. Especially if the second choice is current Deputy Chief Hodge?
No, what is most likely to happen if something goes wrong with the Lopez appointment is that Durham will have to conduct yet another search for a chief. And that scenario is too familiar to contemplate.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the process goes according to plan.
Labels: Durham police, local politics
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