RE: City of Riviera Beach Police Chief Top (2) Finalists Selected
Dear Community Stakeholders:
The premise of this letter is to provide information to the community and the staff concerning the process of selecting a permanent police chief. First and foremost, to all of the candidates who applied, we appreciate the time and energy you spent researching our community and determining the most appropriate pathway forward.
Secondly, I would like to thank all of the finalists who participated in interview activities that began as early as 6 AM to as late as 9:30 or 10 PM. The selection process was intended to identify the two most viable candidates to usher in a new era of proactive and engaging community policing.
The following provides insight into the process:
- All finalists were required to meet and interview with all shift officers, detectives and special operations, crossing guards, department directors, and executive management, including Boynton Beach Chief of Police Michael Gregory, a law enforcement advisor.
- Furthermore, each candidate was required to participate in interviews with the communication team of Riviera Beach TV 18, in addition to a public reception and interview process administered by the Village of North Palm Beach’s Chief of Police, Rick Jenkins. This all-encompassing interview process had each candidate speak to more than 150 people, not to mention those that watched the live broadcast of the public interviews.
As you can imagine, this is a difficult decision, as all of the candidates possess some skill sets, attributes, and experience that would inevitably assist the City of Riviera Beach in moving forward. However, I intend to see the culture, attitude, and service delivery of law enforcement services in the City of Riviera Beach enhanced to make us a benchmark agency throughout the county and eventually the state and the nation. Thus, the chief must be acutely aware of what is required to curtail crime within our city. In this endeavor, the next chief of this agency will have to obtain state accreditation and position the agency to receive national accreditation within its first five years of service.
Furthermore, I desire to see our chief utilize technology and cross-agency teams from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; US Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Palm County Sheriff’s Office to drive out crime and criminal behavior throughout our city. Additionally, we want to be proactive in our law enforcement approach and deploy resources to stop violent crimes throughout our city while considering innovative and creative ways to engage our youth and provide positive mentoring and recreational outlets for all young people within our community.
For the position of police chief in the City of Riviera Beach based on the candidates education, experience, and understanding of law enforcement practices, what I observed, the discussions with law enforcement professionals in and outside of this agency as well as the interview process, in which I personally participated, Tonya Chapman and Nathan Osgood are the top two candidates. I have requested thorough background checks of the top candidates and a third-party firm will conduct a thorough analysis of both candidates to analyze their backgrounds in law enforcement, check personal and professional references, complete degree verification's, perform social media checks, conduct credit and criminal background checks, etc. Once this information is compiled and provided, I will review it and announce the new chief of police for the City of Riviera Beach.
In closing, we hope to move expeditiously with these background checks so that we may begin a new era of law enforcement in the City of Riviera Beach.
