PORT TOWNSEND — The officer with the most seniority in the Port Townsend Police Department is one of three finalists to become the next Oak Harbor chief of police.
With the field whittled down from 15 applicants, Sgt. Ed Green, who began working for the department as a patrolman in 1993, will be facing off against two other candidates
“I love Port Townsend, and I have no desire to leave,” Green said Wednesday.
“But I felt that I wanted to see where I stood with my peers and think that I would make a good chief.”
Conner Daily, Port Townsend’s chief of police, who has worked with Green since arriving in Port Townsend in 1998, agreed.
“Ed would make a great chief,” Daily said.
The other finalists for the Oak Harbor job are Julius “Phil” Schenck, deputy chief of the Sunnyside Police Department, and Lt. Andrew Reinhardt of Prescott, Ariz.
All three candidates met the public last Thursday at the Oak Harbor Fire Station and followed with an all-day interview session Friday.
The interviewing committee already has selected the top two candidates who will be interviewed by Mayor Scott Dudley sometime next week, according to interim City Manager Larry Cort.
Cort would not disclose whether Green was one of the top two but said the third candidate was not eliminated from the running.
The decision could be made as soon as next week, Cort said.
Green, 48, began working for the Port Townsend Police Department in 1993 after moving to the area from Los Angeles.
He had worked in law enforcement since 1986 in a variety of areas.
He was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and has worked as a backup for Daily since that time.
Daily said Green has worked as the department’s administrative sergeant, a job that involves “handling all of the loose ends, large and small.”
Green is one of three sergeants in the department, and the position, if vacated, would need to be filled, Daily said.
Daily said he most likely would promote from within and currently has seven officers on the force who meet the qualifications.
Daily said Green, as the department’s longest-serving officer, “has a lot of institutional knowledge that cannot be replaced.”
Should he take the position and move to Oak Harbo,r there would be an impact beyond his own absence, Daily said.
“He has done a lot for the community, and his wife [Christy] is an essential part of the Rhody Festival,” Daily said.
“So if he leaves, there will be a real impact on the city.”
Green said he has succeeded in police work because he likes working with people.
“A lot of times, people come into the police really upset because their bicycle was stolen or something else that may seem minor to the policeman,” he said.
“But it is a major thing to them, and it’s important to make them feel as important as someone who is a victim of a major crime.”
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
