Phila. area officials vying for Florida police chief job

The search for a top cop in Fort Myers, Fla., has generated a bit of interest from some area police.

Florida TV and newspaper Web sites have published the entire list of applicants - all 95 of them - for anyone to see, and it includes a half dozen familiar names from the Philadelphia area, including Upper Darby Superintendent Michael J. Chitwood and Chief Inspector William A. Colarulo of the Philadelphia police.

"What a group," said another candidate, Pennsylvania State Police Capt. Steven M. Johnson, from Troop L in Reading. "Wow. I know half these guys." Johnson is looking at second career opportunities.

Under Florida's open-records law, resumes are considered public documents and available to the media.

"Everything we get, all the resumes we get, are public," said Robert E. Slavin, president of Slavin Management Consultants, which is conducting the search to replace retiring Fort Myers Police Chief Hilton Daniels.

Publicity can affect a search, Slavin said. Some good candidates who don't want their names made public will not apply. But this time, that was not the case.

"Not only do we have quantity, we have quality," said Slavin.

Other familiar names from the area include Albert L. DiGiacomo, the chief of county detectives in Chester County; Inspector Aaron Horne, a Philadelphia police commanding officer; Capt. Christopher M. Werner of the Philadelphia police; and City of York Police Commissioner Mark L. Whitman.

The job posting on the Web site of the International Association of Chiefs of Police caught Johnson's eye. In the past, departments looked locally for candidates, he said. Now, with online applications, it is easy to conduct national searches.

Chitwood said he received a call from a consultant suggesting he look at the job.

"I sent a resume in. Period," said Chitwood, adding he was "happy" in his current position, which he has held for almost three years.

Chitwood said his son, Michael J. Chitwood Jr., the police chief in Daytona Beach, Fla., since 2006, gave him the scoop on Fort Myers. "He said it was an up and growing area and they were looking for someone from the outside."

Philadelphia's Colarulo, who has also applied for a job in Marco Island, Fla., said he was "always looking" but mostly out of curiosity.

Colarulo said he was not in any rush to leave his job or the city.

"This is my home," said Colarulo, who has been a Philadelphia officer for 27 years. "It would have to be a very appealing offer for me to leave."

The candidates hail from around the United States, and from law enforcement in France and Iraq. They come from police and sheriff departments, the Department of Homeland Security, Interpol, prisons, the U.S. Army, government agencies, and the private sector.

Slavin said there were about 30 more candidates than expected, and more applications are likely to come in.

Fort Myers has a population of 67,851 and is located along South Florida's western coast. The police department employs 200 officers and 90 civilians and operates with a budget of $26 million. Daniels received a salary of $133,910, according to the news-press.com Web site.