City leaders say violence won’t impact search for new police chief

After nearly 33 years with the Salinas Police Department, Chief Kelly McMillin announced he is retiring at the end of this year.

“The reality is this can be a hard career on a person,” said McMillin. “So I’m blessed with my health, I’m blessed with my family.”

The city has hired an executive firm to conduct a nationwide search to find the departments new leader.

“Always a shock when you have to replace someone whose in their top management position and have lots of years of experience and institutional knowledge and knowledge of the community,” said Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter.

But in the wake of a consistent stream of homicides, burglaries and gang violence in Salinas, some are wondering how hard it will be to hire a new chief. The city’s mayor believes it won’t be hard at all.

“Someone that takes on a chief’s job is someone that has a lot of intestinal fortitude, that knows this is going to be a challenge,” said Gunter. “They’re generally A type personalities that are up to a challenge.”

The ideal candidate would be someone who has experience, is willing to relocate and learn the community and its political landscape.

“It’ll be a daunting task,” said Salinas city manager Ray Corpuz. “Excellent outstanding chiefs are hard to find.”

What makes filling the position even harder, is that many cities have job openings for police chiefs.

“You’re getting to the point where there are a lot of people getting ready to retire in December and a lot of agencies they always retire at the end of the calendar year,” said Gunter.

But the city believes Salinas Police has a lot going for itself to separate the department from the rest of the competition.

“People are calling, people are interested,” said Gunter.

Gunter believes much of the interest may be due to the area’s beauty and the fact that a job as chief in Salinas can be used a stepping stone to a larger police department.