Council to interview five candidates to lead city’s police

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The Jamestown City Council will interview five applicants for police chief during special meetings Dec. 19 and 22, according to Jay Sveum, human resource officer for the city. The five candidates include four from within the Jamestown Police Department and one from the Moorhead (Minn.) Police Department.

“The actual hiring is done by the City Council because this is a department head position,” Sveum said. “They will interview five at this time and it is up to the council to determine the next step after the interviews.”

Jamestown Police Department officers interviewing for the post are Sgt. Scott Edinger, Sgt. Tom Nagel, Lt. Robert Opp and Capt. Gary Peterson. Lt. Joel Scharf of the Moorhead Police Department is also being interviewed.

Peterson has 42 years with the Jamestown Police Department and is commander of the investigations division of the force. Edinger is a detective with 18 years with the department. Nagel has been with the department 22 years while Opp has 32 years with the Jamestown Police Department. Both are members of the patrol division.

A total of 16 people applied for the job with the majority from outside North Dakota. Multiple applicants came from Texas and Minnesota while single applications came from Kansas, Ohio, Florida and South Carolina.

The post of police chief has been held by Dave Donegan for 17 years. In October, Donegan announced his retirement effective at the end of 2011. Donegan was promoted to the position after 20 years as an officer with the department.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, police