OnFocus – At their April 14 meeting, Marshfield Police & Fire Commission named Assistant Chief Pat Zeps as Acting Police Chief at Marshfield Police Department, effective immediately.
Zeps has been with the department for nearly 20 years and was promoted to Assistant Chief in March of 2017 – the first person to hold that new position within the department.
With Zeps serving as Acting Chief in the interim, commissioners feel they have the best chance of exploring options for filling the Chief position – whether that means an internal candidate or someone from outside the department.
“I’m not in any hurry to hire somebody brand new at this time,” said Commissioner Mike Meyers. “We have a very capable person in control right now.”
“I absolutely agree. I think with Pat as interim chief, we could take our time with this process,” said Commissioner Randy Gershman, adding that a permanent decision on what to do with the Chief position can be further discussed at a future meeting when other commissioners are present.
“I think one of the things that PFC do historically well is build future leaders in terms of training, getting them ready for the next step,” said City Administrator Steve Barg. “Having said that, what you’ve been through in the past 6-8 months, I really think that you would be doing internal candidates a disservice to not have a pretty significant external search at the heart of it.”
“Having said that, I want to commend Pat. He has done just an outstanding job in very difficult circumstances,” added Barg. “I want to thank him for everything he has done.”
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Author: News Desk
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