Final three Naples police chief candidates meet with community, answer questions

The field is narrowing. Friday morning, the final three candidates for Naples police chief met with the community at Baker Park to answer questions and share their plans for the police department.

Finalist Jack McNiff withdrew from the competition earlier this week because of "family consideration," according to Naples City Manager Jay Boodheshwar.

The remaining candidates, Kristen Ziman, Ciro Dominguez, and Matthew Fletcher all gave brief speeches at the event and spoke with Naples Daily News about the interviewing process and their hopes to become police chief.

Kristen Ziman

Ziman served as the police chief for the Aurora, Illinois Police Department for nearly six years before retiring. Two days after retiring, she packed her bags and moved to Naples.

After being asked several times during the meet and greet what issues she wants to address in the community, Ziman said mental health is a prevalent issue in Naples that can't be ignored.

"I want to talk to external stakeholders, business owners, residents, and ask them what they think our challenges are.," Ziman said. And within those 100 days, I'll devise an action plan but mental health issues are really paramount to our profession nationwide."

Ziman wants to prioritize listening to the community about what they need before taking any action.

"I don't think that the plan can be given until you listen," Ziman said. "You have to diagnose before you prescribe. I want to hear what we need to start doing and what we need to stop doing. We can be good, but we need to be absolutely remarkable."

Ziman said clearly communicating with all parts of the city from management to residents is what will make the partnership between Naples PD and the community work.

"Law enforcement is amazing when it's at its best," Ziman said. "Unfortunately we've had officers tarnish our badge, but that does not reflect the majority. And it's my job, and this is what I intend to do if I'm given the opportunity here, is to identify all the skills and the talents within the Naples Police Department and unleash that talent."

Ciro Dominguez

Dominguez, who began his career as a police officer in Naples, said he's been waiting for a chance to apply as Naples police chief for 15 years.

"I was a police officer here for 10 years and my career took me elsewhere," Dominguez said. "And my real goal is to come back and give what I've learned to the department."

Dominguez wants to make sure he establishes a connection with locals as police chief to ensure their needs are being met.

"I want to listen to the folks and find out what's going on [and] really understand how the police chief works, both culturally and how the leadership environment is, but the first thing I would want to do is both get in touch with my folks, really develop trust with them, and then find out what they need."

Dominguez said the community had great questions for him today and he felt speaking with residents was important.

"I think the strongest takeaway I get, is my original thought, I need to be involved with the community, I need to be going to meetings, I need to be talking to people, … both in the group setting and just people walking down the street, and find out where they are and how they feel about the agency and how they feel about the needs in their community because perception [and] how they feel matters," Dominguez said." And my job is to serve and protect."

Dominguez said the entire process of applying for the position he's wanted since 2008 has been extremely rewarding.

"There's only one place I want to work," Dominguez said. "I want to go back to my alma mater and I want to get back to those people. So all this time goes by and finally it opens. So I applied. Here I am, 170-something people to get here. I'm so humbled and amazed."

Matthew Fletcher

Fletcher, interim Naples police chief, feels his career-long journey at Naples PD has given him a leg-up in the competition.

"I have the information and data available to me from our police department," Fletcher said. "I understand the complaints of our city and our citizens because I deal with them every day. I'm not bringing ideas from other places to here, I'm working on problems and solutions for our town."

Fletcher said that based on his experience with Naples PD, traffic is an issue he wants to address.

"Certainly, traffic is the number one complaint at the city in Naples and we'll continue on with our traffic operations and we're keeping our crime rate low here," Fletcher said.

Fletcher said being considered among the other two candidates is an honor and he hopes to continue keeping Naples safe as police chief.

"The competition is stiff and these are well-qualified candidates here," Fletcher said. "I feel like I'm also a well-qualified candidate. And I have the hometown knowledge. I've worked here. I've dedicated my career here. I've stayed the course and I'm going to continue to stay the course right here in Naples."

What's next?

On Friday, Ziman finished her final interview with the selection panel and all three candidates had another meet and greet with the police department.

"I will debrief with my senior staff to get their input and then we'll sleep on it over the weekend," Boodheshwar said. "And then next week, I'll check in with my staff again. And by the end of next week, we'll make a decision hopefully and have a clearer picture by then."

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples police chief candidates take part in community meet and greet