YUMA, Ariz. – The Yuma Police Department is looking for a new Lieutenant after one recently retired. They are looking to promote one sergeant to the position but there are four candidates seeking the promotion. On Wednesday several Yuma residents and one of our reporters took part in a special type of interview process. Each candidate had to answer several tough but realistic questions with very little preparation. YPD captain Rod Hamilton, who over sees the hiring process, says “In order to get the best lieutenant we needed the interaction with the community and this is the best way to do that, we saw it in action”.
YPD says that Lieutenants are a vital part of the department and deal heavily with the day to day operations of the force. One of the many residents acting as concerned citizens in the mock-public hearing, was retired YPD sergeant and PIO Leanne Worthen. She says, ““Sometimes you have to put a testing process that kind of challenges them”.
Each candidate not only had to face the media and public’s questions but were graded by a panel of high ranking law enforcement officials from different agencies. Cpt. Hamilton says that he liked what he saw from the candidates, “I think we have a great pool to choose from we are going to get a great lieutenant out of this process”. The decision on who becomes the new lieutenant will be made in the next few weeks.