The Columbia Board of Aldermen held its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday afternoon, and Mayor Justin McKenzie informed the public that the city interviewed three of the five applicants for Columbia Police Chief and two of them have risen to the top. While McKenzie did not specify who the other applicant was that rose to the top, he said Adrien Fortenberry, who has received a lot of public support, is one of those two.
McKenzie said five people submitted applications for the role vacated by Michael Kelly, and the city whittled the five candidates down to three, which were all interviewed on Tuesday.
“No matter who anybody’s opinion is about who needs to be chief,” the mayor said, “the fact that we interviewed three good applicants gives me hope that people want to be here. They see something that they can come into — as we kind of described to them, ‘You realize it’s kind of a disaster right now, right? You don’t know what you’re stepping into.’ That being said, we have good people who want to be involved here and want to see our community flourish. That gave me a lot of hope.”
McKenzie then said he wanted the public to know that Fortenberry was one of two applicants who rose to the top during the interview process.
“Have there been missteps? Have there been errors? … We don’t have a huge turnover (in our other city departments), but we’ve seen a lot of turnover in our police department in the last few years, specifically in the last year. We know there’s some issues there. We know that,” McKenzie explained. “We’re going to work hard to correct those. We’re going to try to correct those issues, and what we’re going to do to take that one step further is make sure there are preventative measures so those issues and others don’t happen again.”
McKenzie added the police department is currently hiring officers to replace the seven other officers who resigned. He said he wants to get the process started to help whoever the new chief is be ahead of the curve when they begin their post.
“We’re going to make it through this, and we’re going to do what’s right with the police department,” McKenzie said. “It’s going to come out better than it ever has been. That’s the commitment.”
The board then closed the meeting and went into executive session to discuss the candidates and how their interviews went.
McKenzie put Interim Police Chief Brad Anderson on the spot prior to addressing the public to provide an update on the Columbia Police Department’s inner workings since the resignation of Michael Kelly. Although the police department has been under fire recently with the C-P uncovering the lack of certifications for several officers, the arrest of a school resource officer for voyeurism and a lawsuit alleging sexual assault by a former officer, Anderson said the department is in good shape moving forward.
“We’re OK. We have good people. You asked me to work Monday through Friday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and take the holidays off, and I’ve done none of that. Not because I have to justify it to you (McKenzie and the board) but go ask my men. I can’t ask them to do anything I won’t do with them,” Anderson explained. “I keep hearing people say (things), so I want to clear it (up) publicly — this was a God thing for me. That three-week tenure is what it is. It may be a day or two off, but I’m here to do what I can. My name was not listed (under the applicants who applied because) I never put (it) in. This is not my time. It’s a God thing.
“Somebody great is meant to have it. I’m going to do everything I can to prepare it for them, then I’m going home (to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office).”
Alderman Mike Smith said he’s heard nothing but good things about Anderson’s work as interim chief, and Anderson thanked him but deflected the credit by saying he serves with really good people.
“They just want to know who their leader is going to be,” Anderson finished.
