ALAMOSA — The City of Alamosa is progressing in the hiring of a new chief of police for the Alamosa Police Department with an initial field of eight candidates now narrowed down to four.
According to Alamosa City Manager Heather Sanchez, the interviews are currently being conducted with a committee that includes herself, Erich Schwiesow (city attorney), Holly Martinez (city clerk), Bill Stone (Alamosa fire chief), Harry Reynolds (public works director), Kathy Woods (economic development director) and three representatives from the Alamosa Police Department.
Interim Police Chief Joey Spangler, who has said he was not interested in the position, was part of the interview committee but is no longer listed.
Sanchez had also tentatively planned on George Dingfelder (Monte Vista Police Chief) and Bob Brammer (Durango Police Chief) being involved, but Chief Jeff Satur (Longmont Police Chief) and Bill Gurule (Chief Probation Officer) are serving on the committee, instead.
Prior to beginning the process, Sanchez had said that initial interviews would be done over Zoom with finalists brought in for an in-person interview, which will include a meeting with the Alamosa Police Department and a tour of the community. Whether the four candidates currently being interviewed are viewed as finalists or if there will be a further narrowing of the field was also not disclosed.
More than three and a half months have passed since former Police Chief Ken Anderson officially resigned from his position on Nov. 2, 2023. Since then, Capt. Spangler has been acting as the interim police chief.
When asked at the beginning of January for an update on the hiring process, Sanchez wrote, “Working with Interim Chief Spangler, we decided that the hiring process could wait while we worked on better understanding the needs of the department and providing information to City Council as they worked through the concerns of former Chief Anderson. With the work session on January 3rd addressing the remaining concerns, we are now able to move forward [with] the process.”
At that time, Sanchez also said she anticipated working with the interview team to develop questions and review applications.
When asked for information about the four candidates, such as were any of the applicants from the Alamosa Police Department, other law enforcement agencies in the Valley or across the state, Sanchez would only confirm four were under consideration.
“No further information would be provided,” she stated.
It is not known when a hiring decision can be expected.
