Who will replace Dinse?
Replacement unlikely to be chosen before chief's March 31 retirement
Dinse, who has announced that March 31 will be his last day, is retiring after more than 40 years in law enforcement — the last six of which were as chief in Salt Lake City.
There is no word, however, who might replace Dinse or when a final decision will be made.
More than 90 applications were submitted for the police chief's position. Angela White, a human resource consultant for Salt Lake City who is helping with the seven-member selection committee, said after reviewing those applications, the committee forwarded an undisclosed number on to Mayor Rocky Anderson.
White said this past week that she had not had any further requests for information or background from the mayor's office.
Anderson said that didn't mean the process wasn't moving forward. He said interviews were already being lined up, but so far, there hasn't been anything to report back.
"We're likely not to have a police chief in place when Chief Dinse leaves, but that was never really intended anyway. We will as usual, as we do with most of these kinds of positions, have an acting chief, and that will be one of the assistant chiefs," Anderson said.
One of those rumored names that pops up frequently is Salt Lake City Assistant Police Chief Chris Burbank, who would reportedly be a popular choice among many officers in the department.
Burbank told the Deseret Morning News Saturday that there were a lot of rumors going around about candidates and the selection process, but he did not know at what stage the process was and deferred all such questions to the mayor's office.
"I would certainly like the opportunity to be police chief if the opportunity arises," he said. "I appreciate the support of the other officers."
Dinse was hired as Salt Lake City's police chief in 2000 after spending 34 years with the Los Angeles Police Department. He was chief deputy with the LAPD by the time he retired from that department, overseeing the western Los Angeles district, which included the Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood and Venice Beach.
Dinse was significantly involved in the Los Angeles Police Department's handling of the 1984 Summer Games. He was planning coordinator for the 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II, a field commander during the 1992 riots and a task force commander during the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
His tenure in Salt Lake City was comparatively short but very active. The 2002 Olympics, the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping and the Lori Hacking murder all happened on his watch.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com; kswinyard@desnews.com
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