Bellevue police chief finalists talk diversity, officer accountability

The City of Bellevue has interviewed five finalists in the search for a new police chief and a decision could be made as early as next week.

Assistant Chief Matthew Clark (Minneapolis Police Department), Deputy Chief Jim Jolliffe (Bellevue Police Department), Chief Mitch McCann (Simi Valley California Police Department), Assistant Chief Nicholas Metz (Seattle Police Department), and Assistant Chief Raul Munguia (Austin Police Department) traveled to Bellevue last week to meet with city officials and reporters.

Bellevue City Manager Brad Miyake, who will make the final hiring decision, said he hopes to have a new police chief take over by the end of the year.

“It’s an important decision that I’m going to make sure we contemplate and take our time on,” Miyake said.

“(I’m) looking for a strong seasoned leader to lead the department. A great communicator, as well as collaborator,” said Miyake, who has also taken input from the public on who to hire. “I’m looking for someone that’s innovative, could lead the department to the next level in terms of innovation and how we do business.”

Last Friday, candidates fielded questions from reporters on a variety of issues, including how to improve diversity within the department and how they would deal with internal issues involving the conduct of officers.

Question: How important do you think it is for a police department to be as culturally diverse as the city it serves?

Answers, in the following order:

Assistant Chief Raul Munguia (Austin Police Department)
Chief Mitch McCann (Simi Valley Police Department)
Assistant Chief Nicholas Metz (Seattle Police Department)
Assistant Chief Matthew Clark (Minneapolis Police Department)
Deputy Chief Jim Jolliffe (Bellevue Police Department)

Question: This department has had a lot of issues involving officers – alcohol related, sex related. How do you, as a chief, keep your house in order?:

Answers, in the following order:

Assistant Chief Raul Munguia (Austin Police Department)
Chief Mitch McCann (Simi Valley Police Department)
Assistant Chief Nicholas Metz (Seattle Police Department)
Assistant Chief Matthew Clark (Minneapolis Police Department)
Deputy Chief Jim Jolliffe (Bellevue Police Department).