Eight people consisting of elected officials, fire and police union representatives and members of the public have been charged with making a recommendation on who will be Jamestown’s next police chief.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist has formed his Jamestown Police Chief Recommendation Committee that includes Anthony Dolce, Jamestown City Council president; Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, At-Large councilwoman; Matthew Coon, deputy fire chief; Benjamin McLaughlin, fire lieutenant; Douglas Weaver, police detective; Adam McKinley, police sergeant; and city residents the Rev. Reggie Smith and Sabrina Gustafson.

Sundquist said he tried to form a diverse committee of individuals that represents a lot of different facets of the community.

“This is a community effort,” Sundquist said. “I get the blessing and burden of appointing a police chief, but it doesn’t mean I have to be alone in the process.”

Sundquist said of the 30 applications received for the police chief position, the committee will interview 16 candidates who qualified for the position. He said city officials received applications from all over the country, just not local candidates. He added that because of the number of applicants being interviewed and the number of committee members participating in the process, a lot of coordinating schedules will be done, so no deadline has been set by when the committee needs to finish the process.

“There is no specific timeline, yet,” Sundquist said. “They will start the first round of interviews this week.”

Sundquist said the committee will recommend three individuals to be the next chief. At that point, Sundquist will pick one of them to be the new police chief, replacing Harry Snellings, who retired in July after 10 years as chief. Whoever Sundquist selects will need to be approved by the Jamestown City Council.

Lt. Timothy Jackson was named interim chief in July. Jackson, a city resident, has served with the Jamestown Police Department since May 2000. He is a professor with the Sheriff’s Academy, and served with the U.S. Navy Reserve from 2002 to 2008.