The City of Allentown will hold its first public forum to gather community input on the search process for the next Chief of Police on Thursday, May 30 at 6pm in City Council Chambers.

The community forum will be moderated by Joseph Carter, Senior Associate of the Massachusetts-based Strategic Police Partnership and Kutztown University Professor Gary Cordner.

The city retained Chairman and Principal Robert Wasserman and his Strategic Policy Partnership to lead the search to replace Chief Roger MacLean who must retire before the end of 2013 under the terms of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP enhancement for veteran officers in the police union contract that took effect in January 2009.

The forum is an opportunity for the public to offer candidate characteristics and issues that it feels the new police chief needs to address.

Carter began his career in the Boston Police Department in 1978. He retired from the department in 1998 while serving as Superintendent of Police, a rank he held for 13 years. From 1998 to 2003, Carter served as the Chief of Police in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, a major resort community located on Martha’s Vineyard. Carter served as the Chief of Police of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police from 2003 to 2007. Carter then served as the Adjutant General, Massachusetts National Guard from 2007 until his honorable discharge from the Army in 2012.

While in Oak Bluffs, Carter oversaw the transition of the department to a problem-solving oriented policing philosophy, achieved state and national accreditation, and implemented numerous distinguished programs to modernize strategic components of its operation.

From 2006 to 2007, Carter was the President of the 21,000 member International Association of Chiefs of Police, the world’s largest professional organization of police executives.

Carter holds a Master of Arts degree in criminal justice administration from Atlanta University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. 

According to his Kutztown University website biography, Dr. Cordner is a former police officer and police chief in Maryland. He is currently a Commissioner on the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. He is past editor of the American Journal of Police and Police Quarterly, and past president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). He has published several books and numerous articles and book chapters on community policing, police administration, and related topics.

The Strategic Policy Partnership is leading a multi-step approach or roadmap to the selection process of the new chief of police with the objective of providing transparency of the process events and elements. The roadmap provides for substantial community input into the process. The community forum is the first step in that process.
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