Several Officers Show Support for Police Chief Candidate

A number of Port Washington officers attended a meeting on Monday night to show support for Lt. Michael Davel, one of for the police chief , according to Police and Fire Commission Chair Rick Nelson.

One retired officer also showed up in support of candidate Capt. Michael Keller; the other candidates include Port Lt. Kevin Hingiss and and also a Port resident.

"We were very happy to have their input, but this job is not a popularity contest … it’s not who gets the most votes by the officers or the public," Nelson said. "We had what I thought was a very healthy discussion on all four of (the candidates), and did not come to a conclusion yet of who we thought was the right person to be put in the position at this time."

While the position is not an elected spot, it is one that is assigned to that person for life, and that's why Nelson said the commission is being careful about their decision.

"What we did last night is we discussed the candidates and their strengths and if they had any weaknesses … I’d love to eventually get to a 5-0 consensus on a candidate," he said.

The commission plans to meet one more time before their regularly scheduled board meeting in early December, and Nelson said that meeting will likely be right after Thanksgiving.