NEW POLICE, FIRE CHIEFS ARE COMING WITH TOP CREDENTIALS

After exhaustive nationwide searches, Cape Girardeau officials announced last week that they have chosen two men to fill the police chief and fire chief vacancies. Their choices appear to be good ones based upon what officials in the communities the men are leaving had to say about them.

Richard Hetzel, 44, the police chief in Norcross, Ga., begins his duties here Jan. 13, and Daniel White, 44, the fire chief in Springdale, Ark., starts here Jan. 2.20Hetzel, has been chief at Norcross, a suburb of Atlanta, since 1982, and White has been chief of Springdale, a city about the size of Cape Girardeau, since 1986.

The searches took four months and attracted dozens of applicants before the city decided on six finalists for police chief and seven for fire chief. Cape Girardeans can rest assured they are among the best of the candidates considered, as evidenced by the rigorous hiring procedure that led to their hirings.

The finalists all went through separate assessment centers that were established by a consultant. The centers posed a variety of situations to the candidates, who had to decide how they would handle them. A special hiring panel then judged them on their responses. In addition, receptions were held for the finalists, and police and fire department employees were allowed to express their opinions.

The mayors in the towns they are leaving had kinds words for them.

The mayor of Norcross said she was happy for Hetzel in that he was moving to a larger department, but there will be a void in the department he is leaving. "He worked well with the community, the business leaders and the schools," said the mayor.

The Springdale mayor said Springdale was fortunate to have White has a fire chief. White, who had been with the Springdale department for more than 20 years, oversaw tremendous growth: The department went from 46 firefighters to 75 and three stations to five in just over a decade. During his 10 years as chief, the Springdale Fire Department began providing ambulance service, and all firefighters had to become emergency medical technicians or paramedics.

Cape Girardeau's interim police chief, Steve Strong, and interim fire chief, Max Jauch, are to be commended for the jobs they are doing. They have overseen their departments ably during the search.

Cape Girardeau looks forward to the arrival of the new chiefs and the fresh ideas they will bring with them.