Memphis has 7 finalists for police director
Mayor to interview candidates, decide in April on successor to retiring Rallings
The city of Memphis police director search is coming to a close. The city announced seven finalists to be the city’s top cop Thursday morning.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland will soon interview the finalists and then name MPD Director Mike Rallings’ successor. Rallings is due to retire in April and, to avoid having an interim or acting director, the city would need to have his appointment confirmed by the Memphis City Council by April 6. The city said Thursday that Strickland would make a decision in April.
The person appointed, whoever it is, would lead a department that has about 2,100 police officers, but has lagged below its budgeted complement as it has dealt with retirements, turnover and recruitment from other police departments.
There are three internal candidates, all of whom have the rank of deputy chief, the third-highest rank in the department beneath Rallings and Deputy
Director Mike Ryall, who is also due to retire this year.
Here are the finalists: h Joel Fitzgerald
Chief Joel Fitzgerald has served in various ranks with the Philadelphia Police Department and was selected as Chief of Police in Missouri City, TX. He then became Chief of Police in Allentown, PA, and for four years served as Chief of Police in Fort Worth, TX. In 2020, he joined the City of Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office as Chief Deputy and is now Chief of Police in Waterloo, IA. h Sharonda Hampton
Deputy Chief Hampton has over 34 years of service with the Memphis Police Department, rising through the ranks from a Police Service Technician to the Deputy Chief of Administrative Services. She has experienced a diverse and extensive career that includes Patrol and Investigative Services. h Samuel Hines
Deputy Chief Hines has close to 30 years of service with the Memphis Police Department. He has worked in the Organized Crime Unit, Memphis Police Academy, TACT Unit, Dignitary Protection Team, and Traffic Special Operations. He currently serves as Deputy Chief of Uniform Patrol District One. h Anne Kirkpatrick
Anne Kirkpatrick has 38 years in policing and has been with eight agencies, four as a Chief of Police. She is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI’S National Executive Institute. h Michael Shearin
Deputy Chief Michael Shearin has over 25 years of service with the Memphis Police Department. Deputy Chief Shearin has worked in the Memphis Police Department Training Academy, Organized Crime Unit, Robbery Bureau, General Investigative Bureau. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Investigative Services. h Joseph P. Sullivan
Deputy Commissioner Sullivan is a temporarily retired, 38-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department. As the Chief of Training, he served as a member of the Pennsylvania Police Training and Education Commission, and in 2017, he was appointed to the rank of Deputy Commissioner. h Perry A. Tarrant
Chief Perry Tarrant has 34 years of law enforcement experience and is a retired captain with the Tucson Police Department and a past assistant chief of the Seattle Police Department. He is also past national president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Inside “Project Blue Search”
For the past few months, the director search has appeared on Strickland’s calendar, once a week, as a meeting with human resources chief Alex Smith. It was called “Project Blue Search.” The early stages of that search were outsourced.
The city posted the police director job in December and, as it did during a previous search in 2016, used the International Association of Chiefs of Police as the primary search firm. The job posting was on the organization’s website and it conducted the early, screening interviews of candidates.
In December, Strickland met with almost all of MPD’S deputy chiefs for one-on-one meetings. Those meetings were described as get-to-know-you meetings that also gauged their interest in the job.
An Open Records Request for the contents of the city’s search has only returned a copy of the application.
The city sought a candidate that would be able to spot the department’s weaknesses and fix them, work under pressure, know their way around a budget and know how to reduce violent crime, according to the application.
If the application is any indication, the administration put a heavy emphasis on analytics and data — the application mentioned the ability to analyze crime data and use it to combat crime several times throughout.