Plano Police Department Names Final Chief Candidates, All 3 Have Extensive Experience
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - The Plano Police Department has narrowed the search for its next police chief to three candidates.
"We received an impressive number of highly qualified applicants who want to be the next Plano Police Chief," said City Manager Mark Israelson. "It has been an extremely competitive process to get to this point in the search and we are confident that this effort will result in finding a professional Chief who will have the experience and vision to lead the outstanding Plano Police Department team."
Keller-based Strategic Government Resources went through candidate applications from 11 different states and two countries to identify semi-finalists that were presented to the City.
The three finalists are:
• Current Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson has 24 years of policing experience. He previously served as Assistant Police Chief. He holds a Master's of Liberal Arts Degree from Texas Christian University and a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech University. Johnson serves as at-large Vice President for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and on the IACP Board of Directors.
• Assistant Chief, Administrative Services Bureau for the Irving Police Department, Brian Redburn is a police executive with experience leading all major functions in a large municipal police department and a licensed attorney. Redburn holds a Juris Doctor from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University. He also has extensive experience as a law enforcement instructor. He co-chairs Irving's Behavior Health Leadership Team (BHLT), the first police department-led BHLT in Texas.
• Lieutenant Colonel-Deputy Chief of Police for the City of Overland Park, Kansas, Simon Happer has 29 years of results-driven police and community leadership. He currently serves as Lieutenant Colonel-Deputy Chief of Police for the City of Overland Park, Kansas, where he manages and leads the two major bureaus of the department, the Operations Bureau and the Services Bureau. Happer holds a Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of General Studies – Personnel Administration degrees from the University of Kansas. His previous duties include Major-Division Commander of Detective, Patrol and Office of Professional Standards Divisions, Captain of the Criminal Investigation Section and Lieutenant/Captain of the Patrol Division.
As the next step, the three finalists will participate in three panel interviews; a representative panel of Plano citizens, a city executive team panel, and a Police panel. They will also attend a dinner with City Council and the Mayor. Other testing and backgrounds will happen after that.
