City of Lincoln to Include Public in Search for New Police Chief

The City of Lincoln will spend the next month getting input from the public on what they want to see in the next police chief. Former Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister resigned in January to take a job in the private sector. Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird is looking for feedback from the community and thinks it’s an important part of the hiring process.

“We think it’s really important to have robust community engagement, robust department engagement, robust department engagement, robust engagement with folks who are partners to the department in helping us deliver excellent public safety services,” Gaylor Baird said. “I think we’re going to see, for the next month, a real focus on that aspect that that will inform the search from the very beginning.”

The public is invited to fill-out a short survey on the city’s website about the search. Gaylor Baird said the search could include both external and internal candidates. Brian Jackson is serving as Acting Chief until the city completes the hiring process.