City of Overland Park seeks public input in search for next chief of police

Myron E. Scafe Building on Antioch Road. // Photo Courtesy of the City of Overland Park

The City of Overland Park found itself in hot water 10 months ago, as former Chief of Police Frank Donchez suddenly resigned. Donchez announced his resignation on Sept. 12, 2023, after emails revealed his conversation with a grieving mother.

Now, the search is on for a new Overland Park Police Department police chief, and the city is asking for your input.

Many will remember the search for a new Chief of Police for KCPD after Rick Smith announced his retirement in April 2022. Community leaders urged the public to get involved in the search—to tell the government what the citizens wanted in a new head of the department. Unfortunately, any pleas fell on deaf ears in Jefferson City.

However, the City of Overland Park is able to do something with public input. Unlike KCPD, the Overland Park Police Department is not overseen by a board of commissioners—The city has full control over the force. Therefore, city manager Lori Curtis, will work with a panel to interview and select a new chief.

Former Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez. // Photo Courtesy of the City of Overland Park

The city has put together a survey to gather the public’s opinions on a new chief of police. 

While on the surface, it doesn’t need to be asked if the public wants another incident such as the one seen with Frank Donchez. The input will give the city much-needed clarity on what the public wants.

The questions posed to the public asks what they want in the next chief. They include questions about career experience, what their highest priority should be, and what leadership qualities the next chief should have.

It is a very short survey, but I imagine the input is needed to help narrow down the list of candidates. If the city is committed to gathering information from the public, many more questions will be asked once the candidate pool is narrowed down. 

“Our hiring team and executive recruiter have been meeting with elected officials, community groups, and City staff since beginning the search,” Director of Strategic Communications for Overland Park Meg Ralph says. “We are ready to hear from the community about the qualities and values that the future chief of police should have.”

Even though the survey is short, it’s a rare opportunity to give an opinion on a non-elected position. Every person that so much as visits Overland Park frequently should complete this survey. Even if you don’t live or work in the city, you’re still impacted by this decision if you frequent the area. Many people found it wrong that the public was not asked for an opinion on the KCPD Chief of Police. Now, Overland Park is asking for opinions, so go ahead and take a few minutes to submit your survey.

Overland Park Police on Patrol. // Photo Courtesy of the City of Overland Park

With all this being said, the City of Overland Park could have done much better with this survey. The city has a communications department and they deal with everything you would expect. Yet, this survey feels very corporate and incredibly surface-level. 

Of the three major questions on the survey, the leadership qualities question stands out the most. Every Chief of Police should have every quality listed. “Fair and even-handed?” I sure hope so. “Values diversity at all levels?” They really should! 

Also, the fact that the survey only has one open-ended question and only has six total questions makes me worry that this may just be to say the city asked. It’s entirely possible that the city saw what happened with KCPD and didn’t want the same to happen here. 

Regardless, citizens should still provide input by completing the survey. While it’s clear the city could have produced a more thorough survey, putting this survey together and asking for public opinion in the first place is something worth noting. Completing this survey isn’t necessarily a civic duty, but it will help the city narrow down candidates. Also, I’m sure any constructive feedback on the survey would be appreciated too.