A retired police official from Arvada has been tapped to lead the Durango Police Department until a permanent chief can be found.
Lynn Johnson, who has 41 years police experience with the city of Arvada, will move to Durango this weekend to begin his interim job Monday, said City Manager Ron LeBlanc.
“He’ll stay in this interim role until a new chief takes office, which we think will probably be March 2017,” LeBlanc said.
Johnson replaces Jim Spratlen, who retired Sept. 30.
Johnson has a political science degree from Fort Lewis College and graduated from the senior management institute and senior executives institute at Harvard Kennedy School. He attended the FBI academy and retired as deputy chief in Arvada.
“He has a great reputation,” LeBlanc said. “He has extensive background in all aspects of police work. ... He’s familiar with investigations and patrol and community policing and administration – all those things.”
LeBlanc said Johnson has no interest in keeping the job full-time. He will be paid at a salary level of $132,674 – the same as Spratlen.
LeBlanc said he considered naming an interim chief from within the department, but the search is going to take at least five months, and it wasn’t practical to have someone from the department fill the position with no expectation of winning the job.
“I felt that we didn’t have anyone who was ready,” LeBlanc said.
The city of Durango has hired KRW Associates, a head-hunting agency, to conduct a nationwide search for a new chief.
The search is expected to take at least five months, in part because the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays cut into time. KRW Associates plans to give the city a list of 12 to 16 top applicants, which will be whittled to five or six candidates invited to Durango for interviews. If there is an obvious choice, LeBlanc said he would like to visit the applicant’s community to learn more about the person.
The top end for the salary is about $135,000.
LeBlanc said he’s looking for someone with good leadership skills, communication skills, a broad range of management experiences, and someone who understands the basics of police work and a vision for where police work is heading.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges with policing across the country, and there’s a lot of focus on police right now, so I’d like someone who is knowledgeable with what those trends are and how he or she can prepare this department for that.”
He also wants someone who can relate well with the public, whether it’s on an individual basis or at public hearings. Durango is a college town, tourist town, a regional center, and “we do things a little quirky,” LeBlanc said.
“We’re not a typical town of 18,000 people,” LeBlanc said. “We have a good reputation as a well-run community, well-run city.”
shane@durangoherald.com
