Meet the Candidates

Three Semi-Finalists identified for City of Bellingham’s Next Police Chief

After preliminary interviews conducted by Prothman, the recruitment firm leading the search for the City’s next police chief, and review of application materials by City representatives, three candidates have been identified as semi-finalists and will be moving forward to the interview stage of the selection process. Fifteen applications were received, with two submitted after the application period closed on February 6, 2022. The semi-finalists are:

• John DeRousse, Deputy Chief, Everett Police Department
• Dennis Flynn, Commander, Commerce City Police Department
• Rebecca Mertzig, Police Chief, Stanwood Police Department/Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office

A virtual forum to meet the candidates has been scheduled for Thursday, March 17^th at 5:30 pm. After meeting and listening to the candidates, participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback through a survey. For those not able to attend, a recording of the forum will be made available along with the survey on this page by Friday morning, March 18^th. The survey will be open for feedback until 5:00 pm on Sunday, March 20^th.

Candidate bios are available here.