By Brian Livingston / staff writer
With the naming of Jeff Lewis as the new assistant police chief, an important vacancy has come open.
As commander of operations for the Meridian Police Department, Lewis supervised the officers in the Patrol Division and the agents in the Narcotics Division. He has been doing that job since March of 2006. Now someone else must take his place.
Today, MPD Chief Lee Shelbourn is expected to send a letter to Meridian Mayor Cheri Barry requesting her to allow testing for the operations commander position. In August, Barry rescinded Dean Harper's promotion to captain and operations commander along with Lewis' promotion to assistant chief that was previously approved by outgoing Mayor John Robert Smith. Now that Lewis has been confirmed as the new assistant chief, Shelbourn said the same process that was followed for that position will be followed for the operations commander.
"I will submit the request for the test and if approved the Meridian Civil Service Commission will post it," said Shelbourn Tuesday afternoon. "Those scoring the highest will be interviewed by a panel and then the names submitted to me for consideration. I will meet with the mayor at some point to discuss my pick."
Barry said Monday she wanted to have the officers retested for promotions with a new procedure that included written testing, oral interviews and longevity. After the new procedure, Lewis won the job ... again.
Shelbourn said the bottom line was Lewis' 27 years of service to the city. He has said time and again since his own appointment as chief of the MPD in October he would work very hard to get the best people possible to serve the citizens of Meridian.
"Our concern is always providing quality service to this city, and that's what we insist on, and I believe with this (Lewis) appointment and others (commander of operations) that are coming, it will enhance that quality," Shelbourn said.
Lewis was up against five other candidates for the assistant chief position and there will likely be as many if not more vying for the operations commander job.
