KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon is interviewing an undisclosed number of candidates to be the next police chief and has tapped a group of eight people to help give her feedback, a city spokesman said.
Kincannon hopes to name the next chief -- to replace the retiring Eve Thomas -- by May 1.
The city won't say how many candidates she's interviewed so far and how many she intends to interview. Those being screened right now are "top candidates" from the nationwide application process.
Thirty-nine people applied for the job through the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF.
The non-profit police research organization and membership association of police professionals has forwarded candidates to Kincannon. No names have been released.
Kristin Farley, the city's director of communications, said Wednesday that Kincannon had created an "interview advisory committee" to help her talk to candidates.
"Members of this committee are helping to interview candidates and are providing direct feedback to Mayor Kincannon," Farley said in an update Wednesday afternoon.
Kincannon, in a news release, described the unidentified pool of candidates as "diverse and qualified."
The group helping with interviews consists of Kincannon's three deputies, David Brace, Erin Gill and Stephanie Welch; Kelly Drummond, human resources director; Law Director Charles Swanson; LaKenya Middlebrook of the city's Office of Community Safety; Clarence Vaughn, director of the Office of Diversity and Community Relations in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee; and former KPD Chief Phil Keith.
