Yakima City Manager Cliff Moore will announce the person he has chosen to become Yakima’s next police chief during a news conference that will take place today at 1:00 pm in the Council Chambers at Yakima City Hall.

Last week, five police chief candidates were in Yakima for a series of interviews and “Meet & Greet” sessions.  The five candidates who went through the interview process last week are Darrel Lowe, currently interim captain of police for the Criminal Investigations Division of the Santa Monica, California Police Department, Jason Horton, currently the director of the Riverside County, California Code Enforcement Department, Matthew Murray, currently a police lieutenant for the Denver, Colorado Police Department, Donald Treat, currently an assistant special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Los Angeles, California, and Michael Lester, currently the assistant police chief in Vancouver, Washington.

The five candidates were chosen from an original pool of 23 applicants.  Last Thursday, the candidates were interviewed by four separate panels.  One of the panels was made up of law enforcement professionals, one consisted of members of unions that represent Yakima Police Department (YPD) staff, one panel was comprised of community members, and one panel included senior City staff members.  Each candidate was also individually interviewed by Moore.

The candidates also took part last Friday in two “Meet & Greet” sessions – one with YPD staff and one with members of the Yakima community.

The candidate Moore has chosen to become the next Yakima police chief must still pass psychological and polygraph testing and undergo a comprehensive background check before officially joining the City.    

The next Yakima police chief will succeed Dominic Rizzi, who held the position from spring 2012 until fall 2018.  The Yakima police chief oversees a department that includes about 190 total employees.  The total 2019 YPD budget is just over $30 million.