No internal candidates have applied for Spokane police chief job

With a week left to go before Spokane closes applications for a new police chief, the city already has 17 candidates to consider.

That’s more than the 13 applicants Spokane received during the 2012 search that ended with the hiring of Frank Straub.

Heather Lowe, the city’s human resources director, said last week it’s common to receive an influx of applications right before the deadline, so the city will likely have a bigger pool when the review of applications starts.

City spokesman Brian Coddington said no candidates from inside the Spokane Police Department have applied. Assistant Chief Craig Meidl, who’s currently the highest-ranking commissioned officer in the department, has said he does not intend to apply.

Coddington said he was not aware of the geographic breakdown of candidates and could not say whether any were from Washington.

The city has been working with a hiring firm, Strategic Government Resources, to identify candidates. The firm will review applicants next week and begin working to identify finalists to pass along to the city this summer.

This article was updated on May 11, 2016 to clarify Brian Coddington’s statements about the applicant pool.