Milwaukee police chief finalists discuss qualifications for job

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- There are six finalists in the running for the job as Milwaukee’s top cop, only one of those is from the department.

Jeffrey Norman is the assistant police chief of the Milwaukee Police Department. He says if offered the job, he wants to immediately focus on the crime rate.

“It’s important for us to have a good grasp on what the needs are, understand how to approach it from a leadership standpoint, modeling the approach of community partners and be able to coordinate a plan of attack in regards to reducing our violence," Norman said.

Hoyt Mahaley is a special agent with the FBI working out of Atlanta. He says he has been watching the number of homicides in the city and he has a plan to solve that problem as well.

“The murders are senseless and that’s disheartening but talking to people before they get upset and commit those kinds of crimes, I think is key, that’s what community oriented policing is all about, it’s us being there, it’s us talking to them," Mahaley said.

Jason Lando is another finalist on the list. He is the police commander of the Pittsburg Police Department.

“What are some of the major concerns, what do we believe are some of the drivers behind the crime and the violence and really try and really work on putting together a plan to get to the root of the issue," Lando said.

CBS 58 asked all three candidates why they feel they are the best fit for the job.

“Making sure we are building trust and legitimacy. One of the first points of the 21st century of policing is to understand that we have to make this a constant effort. My track record shows in regards that this is something that’s not overnight, it’s been part of who I am and the character I bring to the position. This is important to me," Norman said.

“I have various levels of experience with not only local law enforcement but state and federal law enforcement. I’ve pretty much worked all violations from being a traffic cop working violations and traffic to domestic violence to homicides to federal crimes including large narcotic trafficking cases," Mahaley said.

“I’ve been really trying to focus on police departments where my strengths would match the needs of the department. I am a really big believer in community engagement, procedural justice and bringing police officers and communities together , so we can avoid some of the nasty incidents," Lando said.

There are three other finalists:

Malik Aziz is currently with the Dallas Police Department.

John Pate, he is the city manager and director of public safety of Opa-Locka Florida.

Chris Davis is with the Portland Police Department.

All candidates will be in Milwaukee on Oct 15 to be interviewed.

The Fire and Police Commission says they hope to have a decision by early December.