Fairfax's Top Cop Search Signals Stark Shift

FAIRFAX, CA — Fairfax’s Town Council last week moved to conduct an internal recruitment process for the hiring of its new police chief.

The hiring process will include a seven-member community panel and a review of Police Practices and Public Safety Alternatives (PPPSA).

The inclusion of a Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee member and the council’s request for rethinking and reimagining police services points to a stark shift in how town officials view their role in selecting the town’s top law enforcement official, if not the council’s view of law enforcement writ large.

Interim Police Chief Rico Tabaranza, who late last year replaced outgoing Chief Chris Morin, will be included in the process, town officials said.

Morin in September announced his retirement after leading the force for 10 years and serving it for 20. He stepped down in December.

The most recent selection process for the town’s Top Cop wasn’t much of a selection process at all.

The town in 2010 anointed Morin to replace outgoing Chief Ken Hughes without conducting an application or search process.

"He was really the heir apparent; for me there was no point in even looking," Mayor Lew Tremaine told Patch in a 2010 interview.

The community panel requested by town staff will also include one volunteer board member, one one (PPPSA) subcommittee member, one chamber representative, one business representative, and two at-large members.

The council also directed town staff to seek public input regarding qualities it sought in a police chief and to allow for the submittal of questions for the interim chief and for comments regarding for the PPPSA.

— Patch Staffer Kelly Dunleavy O'Mara contributed to this report