Provo city officials announced Tuesday that they’ve picked their next chief to lead the police department: Rich Ferguson, who has been the interim chief since March.
Ferguson had temporarily taken over the department after the last chief, John King, resigned abruptly amid sexual-assault allegations and family health issues.
Mayor John Curtis announced in a blog post on Tuesday that after a six-month search, they’ve decided to name Ferguson as the city’s top cop.
“It would be hard to find someone more qualified to lead this department,” Curtis wrote. “Chief Ferguson is someone the community can expect to be very consistent and always conduct himself with the highest level of integrity.”
Ferguson has been with the Provo Police Department for over 26 years, and had previously served as a captain in the force.
But Deputy Mayor Corey Norman said Tuesday that Ferguson was not even a candidate for the position initially — and neither were the other three captains in the department. The city’s initial requirements for the chief position included a college degree, Norman said, which none of the captains had.
Initially, 40 different qualified people applied, according to Norman. The city hired a recruiter, who narrowed those down to about 15 candidates. From there, the city identified their top three. City officials said in August that they had narrowed it down to one candidate, someone from outside the Provo department who was undergoing a second, deeper round of background checks at that time.
“We kind of mutually parted ways,” Norman said of that candidate. “There were some issues and stuff we were trying to work on. It just wasn’t gelling.”
Turns out, the right person for the job was in front of them all along. Last month, city officials changed the applicant requirements, Norman said, and Ferguson applied.
“I think the mayor recognized we have someone who has 27 years of experience,” Norman said. “He has a lot of experience and a lot of respect from the people in the department.”
Ferguson’s appointment as chief now requires the approval of the Provo Municipal Council.
The previous chief, King, resigned in mid-March after three years with the department. City officials initially said King had stepped down to move out of state to care for his ailing mother, but Curtis later revealed the resignation was due to a sexual-assault complaint. Though no charges were filed, the mayor said he did not feel he could let King remain as chief because of issues with public trust.
A woman who was volunteering and conducting research with the police department reported to authorities earlier this year that King had sexually assaulted her. The former chief admitted to investigators that he had sex with her on several occasions — though the woman said the sexual contact was never consensual, according to a Unified Police Department report.
It wasn’t the first time such an accusation had forced King from a high-profile law enforcement position. He was investigated and forced to resign as the Baltimore Police Department’s director of education and training in 2012 after a female staff member accused him of groping her in a patrol car, according to public records. Provo officials have said they were unaware of the Baltimore case — which resulted in the city paying the woman a $24,000 settlement — and nothing negative came back on a background check conducted by a recruiting firm before he was named chief in late 2013.